Still confused and in awe from the sheer size of that massive tree, I silently followed after grandma as she surprisingly decided to walk towards It, passing through the giant forest. The forest was oak-brown and felt primitive and ancient. The grasses we stepped on crackled beneath our feet. I was still in awe of the size and majesty of the trees. Their twisted arms rose ever upwards, as far as I could see, standing proudly as they overlooked everything, akin to silent guardians.
The sunlight did not lance to the lush, greensward in the deeper ends of the forest, the massive trees prevented it. Because of this, black shadows hung in the groves as coils of vaporous mist enwrapped the ragged heads of the giant trees. They wriggled around them in a milky almost illusory smoke.
All of this seemed to give the giant forest a mystical feel to It. Surprisingly, no sound of any bird or animal could be heard as we made our way through the primordial trees. This made me feel somewhat uncomfortable, as a silent forest could only mean one thing, a dangerous predator.
Just as I thought about that, my eyes subconsciously glanced towards my grandmother who was walking happily as If It was her backyard, a glint flashed through my eyes as I nodded in understanding before muttering under my breath. 'A dangerous predator huh,'
Was there anyone or anything more dangerous than my grandmother? No, I doubted It. And so, with my heart at ease, I followed after her with newfound vigor, this time carefully taking the sights in like a curious visitor would.
I managed to spot a few colorful fruits here and there, yet since my grandmother did not seem to have any intention of stopping for them, I wisely chose to remain silent as I walked behind her. 'Oh ya, she did say something about that gigantic tree being a food source'
A gentle breeze suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere as I felt a chill run down my spine. 'But that thing, she said was a God right?' Gulping down, I shook my head and caught up to her, no longer lagging behind. 'She wouldn't just randomly start a fight with a God right? I mean we are in their territory,' I thought, trying to calm myself.
'Yes, of course, grandma is very strong but not stupid, I don't think she'd do something like that, besides so what if we are in their territory, as long as I'm not here alone then all is fine,' I inwardly nodded.
It did not take long before we left the giant forest, and walked into a massive clearing that extended a few kilometers, right in the center of the said clearing was the gigantic tree God. Raising my head to glance at It, It seemed to extend its thick branches to the sky almost as If holding It in place.
Its sheer size easily dwarfed both me and my grandmother making us look like two small insects in front of a giant. The moment we stepped into the clearing, an abnormal pressure suddenly descended on my shoulders. It felt like a massive heavy mountain pressing in my back and forcing me to avert my gaze from the tree God.
A small voice seemed to whisper in my eyes that I should not look at It directly, that It was dangerous. Yet one small glance at my grandmother who was still at ease as If nothing happened was enough to rekindle my spirit as I forced myself to stand tall with my back as straight as an arrow, refusing to give in to the pressure.
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I was a proud dragon, and there was no way I would bow down to any God. With such determination, I forcefully raised my head and scowled at the massive tree God. My grandmother seemed pleased as she nodded slightly before explaining.
"Another nasty habit of the Gods, I told you how proud they are, so most of them use their aura and mana to form an almost invisible shield around their body, making It impossible for mortals to look at them directly, as they think that is beneath them, they also use this as means of intimidation hence avoiding to fight most of the time," She said, this suddenly made me recall a scene I had almost forgotten.
The battle of the Elven Goddess and the Demon God, during that most of the mortals, were kowtowing with their heads hanging low in fear as their respective deities fought It off. 'Hmm, the Gods seem to care a lot about their image,' I thought as I peeked at the massive tree God with my spiritual vision.
The abnormally large tree was surrounded by a layer of glowing green. Equally massive elements seemed to envelop it in a defensive formation making It hard to look directly at the tree's body. Blinking twice, my spiritual vision slowly faded leaving behind the large tree and its oppressing aura.
I quietly heaved a sigh of relief, the spiritual vision was indeed very helpful, yet It made me somewhat dizzy with all the colors and countless elements, hence why I was still not completely used to it. 'I'll just use It when there is a need to, I'm still not used to seeing the world like that,' I thought to myself.
Just then grandmother's hand gently coiled around my arm as she pulled me closer towards the tree. "Let's go!" She happily proclaimed, and who was I to disagree. Just as we were about to reach the vast tree trunk, the vague outline of a figure rose from the ground causing us to halt.
The figure was humanoid and about the same size as us, It was a lady with short green hair and equally emerald green eyes, her gentle face somehow reminded me of my grandmother as I unconsciously turned to glance at her before looking back at the newcomer.
The only thing that was strange about her was that her lower half was made out of vines while her upper one looked human, and instead of ears, she had bright green leaves that surprisingly seemed to match her figure. Her private parts were also covered in leaves, although those were brown in color.
'She's pretty,' I thought, faced with her gentle gaze. Grandmother didn't seem too surprised with the appearance of the newcomer as we calmly approached her.
"Loen," Grandmother said with a smile to which the newcomer responded with a gentle nod before replying. "How nice of you to visit again, I see you brought a cute youngling with you this time," She replied while eying me with curiosity. I didn't feel any animosity, but I still subconsciously shuddered under her gaze.
Grandmother's smile widened as she patted my head and answered, "Yes, this is my grandchild!" She proudly proclaimed, and I could see the leaves lady's eye widen slightly before she regained her composure.
"Is that so, he does have your eyes," She answered sweetly, to which grandmother proudly nodded, "I know right! Well, he is still young at the moment and he needs to eat a lot to grow stronger you know, and that's why Loen give him one of your fruits," Said grandmother, her face turned serious towards the end causing Loen who had a gentle smile all along to frown.
The mood turned heavy as the two ladies stared at each other, and I could almost see some invisible sparks flying between them. My breath got stuck in my throat as I silently waited for their confrontation to pass.
'Fuck,' A silent curse passed through my mind as I found myself in such a situation.