John logged in the next morning and, as usual, went straight to the tree. Forming his customary seat, he got comfortable, laid a hand on the trunk, and sent a stream of space mana into it. For a moment, everything was normal; his mana entered the tree, mingled, and became part of it, he kept control of himself and wasn’t washed away by the experience. However, something was different this time, as he could feel a small strand of mana push back into his palm. The mana wasn’t his, he could tell that immediately, however it didn’t feel hostile, it felt curious and perhaps a tinge worried.
With a thought he guided the new strand of mana into his body and to his own core, where the mana mingled freely with his own, diluting into it and becoming part of it.
The moment the foreign mana touched his own he understood the tree was actively trying to converse with him. From the stream of mana came impressions and feelings that he could tell amounted to a question. “Where did you go?”
John paused, unsure of what the question meant exactly, he returned feelings of uncertainty and the tree’s mana carried back more impressions. He felt the presence of people, perhaps as many as two or three hundred; some were close by, others far away. Most of the people were gathered in a large knot perhaps three miles to the west. The realization of distance caused him to delve further into the feeling he was receiving, and he quickly understood that he was feeling all the people currently within about five miles; the range of the Dimensional Anchor effect.
It was with some slight bit of awe that he realized the tree could see everyone within that radius; sensing this, the tree changed its impressions slightly. There were still many people, but one of them shone brighter in its senses than the others. The person was quite close by, touching the tree’s trunk even.
That’s me, John realized.
The impressions shifted once more, and he got the sense of time passing and the bright spark that was himself wandering back and forth in the area that must be his farm, with occasional trips to the village, and even that one trip he took out to the dungeon, which was just in range of the tree’s senses. Then came a day when John passed out of the tree’s senses. One moment he was in the tree’s sight, and then he walked right out of it’s field; just gone. Time passed and John was suddenly back having appeared near the tree from a portal, he stayed for a while, and moved slowly back to the gateway, and then disappeared through another portal, this time with another person.
Yesterday, when I first walked to the new farm, then used gateways to move back and forth.
The original questioning feelings returned, combined with a bit of worry and anxiety. “Where did you go?”
John was a little stunned; the tree had been watching him this entire time, and for the first time he’d gone somewhere it couldn’t see. And that worries it, he thought.
Taking a moment, he composed his response, pushing images of his walk to the new farm and the land he’d claimed out there, the feeling that he was making it his own, and the bit of sadness he now felt now knowing that he wouldn’t be within the tree’s sight.
The tree trembled; an actual physical sensation that he could feel in the trunk. Worry and anxiety grew stronger in their communication, and a hint of determination. There was no true question or thought this time, just the desire to be closer to him and the determination to make that happen. Mana began to move quickly in the tree as it had only done once before when creating the fruits; this time however it was centered right under his hand.
For a moment he considered pulling away, but then decided against it. The tree might not be fully sapient, but it seemed to be getting there, and showing a lack of trust could be harmful to it, so he kept his hand firmly on its trunk.
For a moment nothing happened, then a thick and complicated knot of pure mana began to form around his hand and the trunk of the tree.
[The Galaxy Tree would like to enter a Soul Bond with you. Would you like to accept?]
* Yes
* No
John considered the prompt for a moment. He didn’t actually know what a soul bond was, but it seemed like it should be a good thing. “Yes,” he agreed, with only a slight amount of trepidation.
Not a moment after he accepted, the knot of mana seemed to settle and sunk into his hand and the tree. Seconds later the back of his hand, hair and all, was stained the void black color of the tree’s leaves. Startled, he pulled away, and noticed that the black shimmered and changed as it moved, revealing vibrant colors and pricks of white. Glancing back to the tree, he could see a handprint in its bark, a light mousey brown color, like that of his normal hair.
[Rank 1 Soul Bond created.]
[Please Select the Racial Perk or Feat you would like to share with your partner.]
[Racial Perks]
* Disaster Prognosticator
* Megalith Mastery
* Plant Tender
[Feats]
* Bigger on the Inside I
* Domain I
* Green Thumb I
* Magriculture
* Mana Stone Maker
* Rare Earth Reaching
John looked at the choices and hesitated. The racial perks Green Thumb, Plant Tender, and Magriculture were right out. The tree wasn’t raising any plants other than, perhaps, itself and that was easily debatable. Disaster Prognosticator might be vaguely helpful, but it was immobile and couldn’t tell anyone, so that was unlikely. Megalith Mastery was useless for something (someone?) that couldn’t build megaliths. That left only Bigger on the Inside, Mana Stone Maker, Rare Earth Reaching, and Domain.
While it would likely be a boon for the tree if it could make mana stones, it might not be capable of casting mana the same way he could; that might make it useless to the tree. More inventory space wasn’t likely to impact something without an inventory, and the ability to make rarer earth materials likely wasn’t helpful either. On the other hand, the tree could certainly benefit from access to his Domain, that would double its regeneration and pool size, something it might find very beneficial in the future.
“Domain,” he said.
[Domain I has been set as the Shared Feat for your half of the Soul Bond.]
[As your bound partner is non-sapient it is up to you to decide which Racial Perk you will benefit from, please select from those available.]
[Racial Perks]
* Beyond Dimensions
* Destination Unknown
* Dimensional Sight
* Portal Savant
* Warped Space
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Unsure of what to pick, John concentrated on each of the options in turn, trying to prompt the system for more information.
[Beyond Dimensions]
* Type: Racial Ability
* Description: You can see and pierce through dimensional barriers.
[Destination Unknown]
* Type: Racial Ability
* Description: Your teleportation and portal effects do not require prior knowledge of their destination, requiring only a description of the location in question. The Description may be as precise or vague as you desire, however the less precise the description, the less likely you’ll get the exact area desired.
[Dimensional Sight]
* Type: Racial Ability
* Description: You can see anyone or thing within the aura of a dimensional effect to which you are connected.
[Portal Savant]
* Type: Racial Ability
* Description: Any portal you open or sustain has its cost reduced by 90% and its duration is counted in minutes rather than seconds.
[Warped Space]
* Type: Racial Ability
* Description: Space around you warps and distorts. A bubble of malleable space extends a foot from your furthest extremities at all times; this space may, with practice, be consciously altered to create various spacial effects. You will reflexively defend against attacks you can perceive.
Looking at the options, he let out a small huff. Of course the tree was capable of the same thing the true portal fruit could do, why not? Portal Savant was also amazing; it would mean greatly reduced cost to run Portals and would allow the tree to act as an extremely efficient Portal hub. Both would be great to have if he had any intentions of Portaling to distant places regularly. Beyond Dimensions and Dimensional Sight weren’t really worth considering; the first would be great if he were an adventurer, but the second would require that he be tied into a dimensional enchantment of some kind, which he wasn’t. That left only Warp Space, which sounded useful as both utility and defense; it was probably also how the tree was meant to see when people didn’t tie it into giant dimensional effects.
[Warped Space has been set as the shared Racial Perk for your partner’s half of the Soul Bond.]
Waving away the prompt he asked a question. “Help, what is a Soul Bond?”
[Answer: A Soul Bond is a contract offered from one person or creature to another. The intent of a Soul Bond is to share lives, allowing those so bound to share power. Benefits normally include the ability to tap each other for mana or special abilities, and knowledge of each other’s health and location. As a Player you also have the ability to revive your Soul Bound partner should it die, and you may choose to revive at your partner’s location should you die; assuming they are out of combat and in a safe location. You may only have one Soul Bond at any given time, and may not create any new bond for a year and a day after the old was broken.]
John dismissed the prompt and then looked up at the tree. He could feel it now that he knew to look for it, a little knot at the edge of his consciousness; a strange feeling given that no such thing existed in real life. Mentally he reached out and connected with it; immediately he could feel the tree and its impression like thoughts. He felt its worry and anxiety ease and a sense of contentment flowed from it, there was also something else, a sense of… elation? He fell deeper into the connection and found that he could feel the flow of mana in the tree, the same as when he pushed his own power into it. It was instantly apparent that the inflow of mana to the tree had doubled, and its pool had grown deeper.
“Pleased to be sharing my Domain,” he muttered, and then looked at his blackened hand. With a thought he brought up his status.
[Name: John]
[Race: Basajaun]
[Level: 7]
[Mana: 570]
[MRegen: 28/minute]
[Build Points: 3,843]
[Attributes]
* Constitution: 41
* Dexterity 12
* Magic: 57
* Strength: 40
[Skills]
* Alchemy – Novice
* Animal Husbandry
* Enchanting – Novice
* Engineering – Novice
* Farming – Apprentice
* Inspect – Novice
* Light Armor – Novice
* Mana Drawing – Journeyman
* Mana Imprinting – Journeyman
* Mana Manipulation – Journeyman
* Mana Sight – Expert
* Mathematics – Apprentice
* Measuring – Apprentice
* Meditation – Apprentice
* Ritual Magic – Apprentice
* Swordplay – Novice
[Spells]
* Create Earth – Apprentice
* Create Flame – Apprentice
* Create Light – Novice
* Create Water – Novice
* Crystallize Mana – Apprentice
* Control Earth – Journeyman
* Control Flame – Novice
* Control Water – Apprentice
* Decay – Apprentice
* Earth To Stone – Novice
* Growth – Novice
* Portal - Novice
[Racial Perks]
* Disaster Prognosticator
* Megalith Mastery
* Plant Tender
[Feats]
* Bigger on the Inside I
* Domain I
* Green Thumb I
* Magriculture
* Mana Stone Maker
* Rare Earth Reaching
[Soul Bond]
* The Galaxy Tree
* Shared Racial Perk: Warped Space
“I suppose that settles the debate as to the tree’s sentience,” came Commander Helen’s voice from behind him.
John glanced over at her. “I guess plants can’t normally soul bond?”
“Not outside those few with sentience or sapience, no,” she replied, then moved her gaze from the tree to John. “I understand you wanted the Gateway of Worlds paved. I’m afraid that’s not as easily done as you or Tet seemed to think. The problem is the tree’s roots and the runners it’s sent up around the arches,” she said with a gesture to the standing stones that were becoming entwined in woody growths. “Depending on how shallow these roots are we can’t dig up the area without doing potential harm to the tree.
John paused as he considered the problem; he hadn’t really thought of the roots and runners, but they were definitely an issue. “One moment,” he replied as he had an idea. Placing his hand back on the tree’s trunk he connected his mana to it once more, and did his best to get a feel for where the roots were. It took a moment but he was able to gauge their depth at about six feet or so, a whole two feet below the depth needed for a foundation. “The roots shouldn’t be a problem, they’re about six feet deep; though I guess we can’t move the arches, given the runners are already growing around them, so we’ll just have to settle for what we can do.”
Helen nodded. “Very well, construction will begin today. Finish your daily communion; your entourage will be ready by the time you’re done.”
“Alright, and sorry for the inconvenience; I’m not used to having guards.”
“Very few are,” the catkin woman said as she departed. “Good day Groundskeeper.”
“You too,” he replied and then turned his attention back to the tree, placing his hand on it once more.