In the sunroom with the Yggdrasil sapling, Moriko sat lotus style while meditating and floating several inches off the ground. Even the tiny bit of habitual concentration it took for her to stay connected to the ground was too much distraction for her current task.

She breathed deeply and slowly, and as she did so, the world breathed with her. Every inhale drew Faerie mana across the thin membrane between the sides of the world, and with every exhale she used that mana to scoop a portion of dungeon mana and push it over to the Other Side.

While Moriko could not directly touch the dungeon's mana, it also did not fight her indirect manipulation like it would for an outsider.

In some ways, this process was similar to what had already been going on to blend the two aspects of their realm, but this was a far more concentrated, and therefore dangerous, effect.

Moriko had been doing this for over two days in this exact location and had spent the previous day fasting in preparation, as one could not safely enter or leave the room. The way she was moving mana constantly between the realms had been thinning and slowly tearing the barrier between. Right now, the room existed simultaneously on both sides and its outer edges lead to both realms at the same time.

While Sarcomaag and the living crystal had managed to grow on both sides, any given piece was normally on only one side. The situation Moriko had created made traversing the borders of the room tricky at best, and perilous to most.

This is why, Crizdirk, the kobold shaman, and the twelve rabbit kin he was leading, had also been in this room for the past two days with her.

They were the ones who would be responsible for completing the ritual to integrate the sapling with the crystal tree. Moriko's only job was to maintain this otherwise unstable overlap of worlds.

Mordecai's avatar could have done either task, but not both at the same time and it would have left him unavailable for other jobs. Kazue's avatar might have been able to do what Moriko was doing, but while creating the dual mana flow would have been easier for her, maintaining such a long vigil would have been much harder.

Moriko paid no attention to time, nor to herself. She simply maintained the flow and let no other thought intrude.

That is, until Mordecai's mind briefly brushed hers. It was the lightest touch and a simple request to make a decision on her behalf. There was a small stir of curiosity, but such things were too distracting; so Moriko simply gave permission and sank back down into her mediation.

She'd barely done so before she became aware of a significant change somewhere in her domain, shortly followed by a new presence extending itself in her direction along the crystal tree. Once more, Moriko squashed curiosity lest other thoughts build up and distract her. No doubt she'd get an explanation after this was done, for now, she just trusted that Mordecai was aware and responsible for everything.

It seemed likely that this was a sign that the time was close, but that thought too was allowed to subside. Breathe in and draw faerie mana in, breathe out, and use it to push the dungeon mana out.

Eventually, the kobold and the rabbit kin stirred to begin their work, and Moriko could feel the new presence communicating with them and presumably aiding the ritual.

Their task was to perform a ritual to aid the merger and growth. There had been many similar rituals to choose between amongst the various druidic circles, and this one had taken points from several of them with Mordecai consulting with a wide variety of individuals including Norumi, Traxalim, Satsuki, and of course Chaxiss, the wise catfolk gardener from the temple Moriko had trained at. Chaxiss’ help had come with the price of a promise to visit the fledgling tree once all was accomplished.

At the same time, Mordecai's and Kazue's cores turned their attention this way in order to guide and manipulate the living crystal. An outer edge of the room opened up to reveal the prepared 'pot' and vertical recess designed to be the world tree's starting point. Rich earth was already in place, and what was visible was only a small portion of the reality.

There was a system of 'tunnels' for living roots loosely filled with more earth, and each tunnel had branching smaller channels in addition to its main route. Nor were they smooth; the rough surfaces had carefully designed shapes at multiple scales, encouraging and assisting the interlocking of living plant tissue.

While Moriko carefully maintained the overlapping realms, the ritual proceeded and the world tree was replanted into its new home. The ritual was designed to encourage trees to grow quickly and healthily, invigorating them to make sure they took root after transplantation.

The Yggdrasil responded readily and began to fill the prepared space much faster than a normal tree could have. There was a subtle flow in the mana around them as the world tree responded to the rich environment by drawing the mana in to fuel its growth.

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At first, it merely grew into and around the living crystal, much like a tree might grow around a fence, but the living crystal responded to the growth by sending tiny filaments of crystal deeper into the world tree.

This was an accelerated version of what happens when two normal trees grow next to each other, but most trees would not adapt well to filaments of crystal trying to integrate themselves. The world tree, however, adapted much better than even the hardiest of normal trees could, especially with the assistance of the customized ritual.

Moriko could feel the subtle change in the flow of mana as the structures began to integrate. A world tree passively absorbed a small portion of the mana around it while growing, and the denser the mana the more it could absorb.

Now the second part of her job began. She helped guide more mana into the young tree, stimulating its growth. She was feeding Faerie mana to it while Kazue was guiding in dungeon mana, and Mordecai was coordinating everyone, his focus moving constantly to monitor every aspect of the integration.

It didn't take too long for the sapling to grow beyond the limits of the room, and thus breach the unstable boundary. But these are not called world trees just because of their impressive size and natural power; nexus points between realms were exactly where they thrived as they were natural bridges through such places.

The unstable nature of the merged space around Moriko shifted and the temporary dimensional nexus was absorbed by the Yggdrasil.

She pulled herself out of her trance and opened her eyes so that she could see what was happening instead of distantly monitoring it through the flow of mana. While the integration had not covered all of the crystal tree yet, where it had the results were spectacular.

Veins of green and gold grew into the translucent crystal, drawing their color from what would have been leaf and wood though they no longer bore those exact shapes or patterns. Likewise, thin veins flowed with crystalline sap throughout the organic tissue of the tree, occasionally visible near the surface as tiny sparkles.

Separately from her role as Faerie Queen, Moriko could feel the vitality blooming in this new life form. It was beautiful to behold and already growing at a visible rate without the further aid of the completed ritual.

To be fair, most of the growth was the organic tree integrating throughout the crystal portion, but the mostly wood side was also growing. It should continue to do so until it matched the crystal in height, though the rate was already slowing down.

Moriko rose up and walked over to the boundary of crystal and wood, admiring the beauty of the seamless fusion. "You're an impressive one," she murmured as she stroked the surface to feel the differences between the sides.

There was a slight stirring of response to her attention. There was no mind yet, but she could feel a strong spirit and some simple emotions and instincts. "Don't worry, we're going to take good care of you, and in a little bit, we're going to try to give you a friend you can grow up with."

Norumi and Haolong should be waiting on the other side, and Moriko prepared to step through so that she could go down and meet them. But her contact with the great tree interacted with her thoughts and she could feel the spirit of the tree respond.

"Oh?" Moriko asked in response to the impression she received. "That would be wonderful, thank you." It still took a bit of her own energy, but it was much easier to accept the tree's offer than to create her own portal, and she stepped into the surface of the tree to slide across to the other side.

It also came with the advantage of stepping out from the tree near where Norumi waited, along with Haolong, Kazue, and Mordecai. She smiled at them and then patted the tree. "That was perfect. Mm, we need to give you a name soon. I promise it will be better than 'Little Death Apple'." Huh, where had that example come from?

Ah, the new mind that had become a citizen and contractor: a xyloid and former inhabitant named Machineel. Moriko arched a brow at Mordecai and then shook her head. "That name is so very you."

Kazue and Norumi laughed and Kazue said, "We said as much to him as well."

Mordecai shrugged and smiled. "I make no apologies. Especially as I did make sure he could live up to his name; he can generate and throw overripe 'apples' of the type his name implies. On the other hand, he grows more normal apples most of the time, and occasionally golden apples with healing properties."

"Allow me to make a suggestion then," Haolong said, "to go with Lady Moriko's promise. What do you think of Krystraeliv?"

"For the tree?" Moriko glanced back at the young world tree and smiled. "Crystal Tree of Life? It's both pretty and direct, I like it."

"Krystraeliv it is then!" Kazue declared and then glanced up at Mordecai with a challenging look.

He laughed and raised his hands. "I have no objections. I don't make all of my names puns."

"Just most of them," Norumi replied. "Thankfully, Mother named me. Now, are we ready?"

After everyone assented and moved away to give some space, Norumi and Haolong walked up to the latticework of crystal that formed part of Krystraeliv's root system. They held hands and then each placed their free hand on the surface of the roots.

"Oh," Norumi said, "you are quite lively for one so young. I see; there is a lot of life energy in the crystal, and now all that energy is developing a spiritual density to match what you already have, and a little more besides. Mm, you are not quite awake yet though, are you? Well, while you sleep, would you like to have a friend and partner to dream with? Excellent, just take good care of her. Now, give us a moment."

Moriko's recent experience helped her understand this interaction better. Krystraeliv was not capable of understanding the words themselves yet, but speaking them out loud helped shape the intent and emotions behind them, and that was what the tree was responding to.

Norumi and Haolong leaned against each other and were silent for a long time before Norumi shuddered and gasped. "That, that took a lot more energy than I thought it would." She clung to her husband for a moment before gathering herself to walk back over to them, while leaning slightly on Haolong's arm.

"Don't worry," she said with a smile when she saw their concerned expressions, "my fully invested energy was only a tiny bit more than I was expecting. It required more power than I had anticipated to complete the blessing, but nothing that won't recover after a day or two of rest."

Although little had happened visibly, Moriko felt that they had all been allowed to witness something normally private and intimate, and she took that as a sign of trust. She also agreed with Norumi's assessment.

All of them needed some rest at this point, and Moriko needed some food and water as well.