Haunted Tree
"Dad!" Anastasia shouted and rushed towards Heian Ciemnosc. She hugged him lots. By now, Grietta walked beside Heian Ciemnosc, although she looked absentminded and with less concentration than before they started cultivating. Anastasia felt her father's arms around her shoulders and felt giddy. The best father in the world gave her such a gift! And after turning 18 years old! What a late birthday present! But then, her nostrils whiffed, and she asked with a teasing, trolling face.
"Daddy, why do you smell so much of aunty? Did you... the whole year?!" Anastasia smiled despite the naughtiness of her words. Heian Ciemnosc was speechless, but Grietta, behind him, nodded without thinking. She then smiled and looked silly, winning endless charming points from everyone present.
Heian Ciemnosc was helpless, but he didn’t shy away. Even if he did lewd things he shouldn’t have, with someone that wasn’t one of his wives, and with someone who seemed ‘too’ free. He was a man, and he simply rubbed Anastasia’s head and changed the subject.
“Your progress is worthy of being my daughter, and your mothers’, ah.” Heian Ciemnosc smiled lightly. Anastasia closed her eyes and enjoyed his massage on her head. Her head dropped onto his chest. Anastasia became a doll that would have fallen to the ground if it wasn’t for Heian Ciemnosc, who picked her up like a princess.
“Mn, mn!” Behind Heian Ciemnosc, Grietta looked at someone taking her place and hurriedly tugged his dark coat’s arm. Heian Ciemnosc ruefully smiled and rubbed his head on Grietta’s pet-like expression. She pouted and let it be, but seemed grumpy.
“Ahem, you too, you’ve worked hard.” Heian Ciemnosc looked at his Team and said. Their eyes were smiling, although their lips were not. They finally smiled after hearing his words, to which Ruo Wei spoke with a bit of teasing under every word. “Boss, you’re really great. Not only did you break into the 9th stage. I still remember when you broke into the 7th stage, that was quite the commotion. Even Grietta, who has a husband, fell for you.”
“So this is why you can hold back before us? Even Little Loma and Sandra, huh?” Ruo Wei finished her words with a bad smile. Heian Ciemnosc looked at her and smiled. But he was glad of her evolution. Ruo Wei became dispirited after Beto’s near-death. Although she didn’t show it, how could she hide it from her new Team Leader?
“Enough, or I’ll consider my ‘chances’ again,” Heian Ciemnosc said, threatening with a lewd smile. However, all Ruo Wei and Cara did was smile, knowing he was too ‘innocent’ to do things like that. On the other hand, Loma rolled her eyes and shook her head with a little smile.
“Let’s leave, ahem,” Heian Ciemnosc cleared his throat while carrying his daughter, with the 2 maids looking at him strangely. “This place will soon become only dirt. Let’s leave and let ‘others’ rest before that happens. Stand around me again.”
The Team dropped the relaxing break and walked towards their Team Leader with stern expressions. Ruo Wei led the others, and Heian Ciemnosc could already see the ‘Team Leader’ in her. He unnoticeably smiled as the Team stood around him. Then, with his thoughts slowly focusing and conveying his emotions, Heian Ciemnosc hoped the ‘thing’ was still around to send them off, and he wasn’t disappointed.
Twiiing~- vuuwp~!!
A bluish, whitish, greenish aura enveloped them again. This time, it was faster, and the notion resulted more intense as the group disappeared as if turning into thin air under a moment. The place they cultivated longer than a year became dark instantly.
Rumbleeee… The darkness couldn’t hide sound, however. The entire place shook, and it seemed as if an earthquake was about to cave in to reveal everything to the world above. However, only the sound of gargantuan amounts of dirt moving from the walls, exploding with banging sounds and filling the room echoed. As for the world above, not even a ripple.
… PSHIIFT~! FUTOOOMP!
“!” Heian Ciemnosc was the first to react as their bodies appeared in the open, under the daylight, and with the prairies from before remaining the same. He immediately placed dark Vigor Energy around and formed a thin, transparent barrier. Only those from inside could peer to the outside. The air that should’ve exploded outwards remained impassive, and the cultivation base fluctuations even Grietta emanated were concealed.
“...” But then, Heian Ciemnosc looked at Evans, who had waited for them all this time. Evans knew they might take a while, and he didn’t seem like he had become bored. The Peaksky Swan was licking his right talon as it had viscous liquid around it. The simple answer to why Evans was a little filthy was due to the number of female Fauna around him, from Creatures and Monsters to the acclaimed Preternaturals.
There were avian types, terrestrial, and even a few whose bodies were too small for the package Swan Evans could offer. All of them were lazily resting on the grass, with his last victim, a 13 meters long cheetah, heavily breathing while her tail swayed left and right.
“Evans!” Heian Ciemnosc loudly admonished. It was fine to indulge, but why in the open? What if Evans brought attention here? Or if he stole another rich family’s guarding Fauna again, and they came looking for it? Sigh!
Criii~. Evans looked at Heian Ciemnosc, continuing licking his right talon with narrowed eyes, and then ignored Heian Ciemnosc. Heian Ciemnosc shook his head but wisely ignored Evans, too. He looked at his little adventure group and felt content with their progress.
While he, Heian Ciemnosc, barely broke through 3 stages and arrived at the peak of the Life-Long realm 9th stage, his Team had truly broken into the Farsighted realm, 3 of them in fact!
Cara, Loma, and Ruo Wei broke into the Farsighted realm small stage. Cara and Loma had barely broken into the Farsighted realm small stage, and their level was still early. Conversely, Ruo Wei was at the peak of the Farsighted realm small stage. Loma and Cara’s cultivation base was stable, but they needed a little more solidification, so Heian Ciemnosc planned to limit his cultivation base to the Life-Long realm 3rd stage and spar with them.
As for Ruo Wei, she only needed to refine enough pure energy and concentrate on the Elemental energy stored within her body. Since they weren’t Godly cultivators or Planet Gate realm cultivators at the very least, they couldn’t delve into all Elements to enhance their own, and increase their cultivation base.
It wasn’t just Ruo Wei, Cara, Loma, and Heian Ciemnosc who did this. Anastasia and Grietta had the largest amount of Elemental energy from those Elemental traces. Anastasia would have an easier time going through the Third Step from the Life-Long realm forwards in a couple of decades or slightly more. As for Grietta, she could use this to form her Godhood earlier than expected!
The others also employed this method. It would bear fruits now and in the future. Knowing how long it takes for Third Step cultivators to move towards the Universal realm, a few thousands of years would be considered extremely unique. And around 10,000 years should be the standard for elite soldier units and those special forces of some generational organizations.
Clanton and Moy were a few shy steps from the Farsighted realm, while Sandra’s cultivation base halted at half a step into the Farsighted realm. Everything went well. As for the maids under Anastasia, they were at the Spirit Rebirth realm. They weren’t at the peak, showing their limitations, but it was still good. Besides, Heian Ciemnosc stored some extra Elemental energy for them, for the future.
“Let’s go, I know of another place. After this, we’ll return,” Heian Ciemnosc shouted to the group as Grietta lightly kissed his neck, like an addict trying to seduce her ex to get her free drugs. Heian Ciemnosc’s overly pale skin trembled a little, but he endured it and nodded towards his Team and the maids.
They didn’t say a word and walked towards Evans. Before he could cry out again to put on a show of arrogance, Heian Ciemnosc washed it with dark Vigor Energy and disordered most of his feathers, leaving Evans startled. Yet, before Evans could react, everyone sat on his back, and the lazying around times ended for him.
Flutter! WHOOOOOSHHH~~!!
Evans looked at the beauties he plowed and made wail until they lost consciousness and sexually enslaved their foggy brains one last time before agitating his wings. Their beauty and majesty gained attention from his toys below. They looked up, saddened.
Roar-... rooooaar~... roar! The little beauties bid farewell to their casanova as he immediately zoomed into the distance. Indeed, only someone who deserved to use them all like he owned them and keep them by his side could only be someone so capable! The Fauna left behind grieved for a few minutes before walking away. As for the tree stump behind them, it didn’t matter, and it even lost the strange scent it used to attract them with.
. . .
Stolen story; please report.
Time passed. 2 months went by.
Heian Ciemnosc directed Evans to fly a little around. Although they were about 2 months from the Calatida Region, they weren’t far away at all. The distance they’ve traveled could be considered marginal for a little adventure. Traders and merchants usually traveled from 2 to 15 months just to gain some money.
Of course, this level of moving goods and receiving money was only for starters, but such starts frequently lasted decades, if not a few hundred years. The majority of small success-scale businesses such as independent merchants or wandering traders could afford a tool or Fauna to fly the same distances faster and more safely. Let alone the big money-movers.
After Anastasia woke up, she started consolidating her cultivation base. It was near the Light/Dark realm, so she had to prepare with a tough heart and cleared mindset. On the other hand, Grietta needed her fix every 2 days. Heian Ciemnosc had to disappear and talk about life with Grietta for a whole day, rest 2 days, and repeat so she could feel at ease.
Grietta sobered up after a month and a half when she was in the middle of testing her fingers' flexibility to bend some and extend others at the same time while her throat gushed with gusto a phallic member invading her esophagus.
Afterwards, she meditated and only bothered Heian Ciemnosc every day for a few hours before resuming meditation. She couldn’t attain Godhood here anyways, so she didn’t have to spend an unknown amount of time to breakthrough.
Heian Ciemnosc had Evans stop at towns and some supreme-sized villages to spar with his Team members. He also fulfilled his promise and dated little Grietta, making her feel like a young lady and blush everywhere as her hidden face was only seen by Heian Ciemnosc. Her clothes were always anti-Spirit Sense, too.
Reminding her of the sweetness, Grietta’s mind was filled with ideas for when she returned. She might miss the debauchery of the past, but her heart wanted to spend times like these with her hubby. Heian Ciemnosc reminded her, and she didn’t mind being his temporary wife to his heart’s content. If she wasn’t already with seed, and Heian Ciemnosc was fertile, she would’ve considered giving him a few extra ‘rights’ to thank him.
She was undeniably different compared to before marrying that guilty conscience-riddled playboy.
At last, at the end of the 2nd month after they left the Elemental traces’ underground place, they arrived before a short-height woods. It looked tenebrous and obscure overall. When they were several tens of minutes away, the new Farsighted realm cultivators and Grietta could see the woods’ strangeness from afar. It appeared… slightly ghostly.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… This time, Evans flew and slowly stopped when he was tens of kilometers away. His speeding figure was met with air currents, heaving his advance and helping him stabilize a landing still 1 kilometer before the woods.
Stomp- tomp! Evans’ talons clawed the ground and stopped. His head low and his wings semi-bent to extend and flap into the sky at a moment’s notice. He was vigilant, but with a tap of Heian Ciemnosc’s hand, he relaxed yet didn’t lower his guard.
Whoosh. Heian Ciemnosc landed on the ground, followed by the others, as he looked at the woods. It’s been a while since they were on a flying spree, meeting new places and sparring to consolidate their foundation. Now that they stopped, the others felt excited at the prospect of new fortune, but also didn’t lower their guard.
On the other hand, Heian Ciemnosc had been feeling a thinner, slight sensation of being called ever since he left the Elemental traces underground. It was a like a reminder of something he had completely forgotten, constantly gnawing at his mind so he wouldn’t get distracted and actually forget about it.
It wasn’t bothersome, but an instinctive sense of urgency sprouted in his chest; his heart, and he couldn’t deny it. Still, Heian Ciemnosc was Heian Ciemnosc. Such a thing didn’t provoke changes in his behavior, cultivation path, or current goals. And the latter was to exterminate the enemy within the Calatida Region.
“...” Heian Ciemnosc felt the sensation sharpening again. He looked slightly into the sky. Although it was midday, the sky above the woods’ short height was of a dark, blue hue, as if a barrier distorted colors and reality. But all of this was, in truth, a misconception.
‘... So needy… what the hell could it be?’ At this point, Heian Ciemnosc had no idea if it was something, someone, or some. Whatever was calling out to him, only he seemed to feel it, as the others lived like nothing ever happened. There was occasional chatter of the event when they arrived at the Dragoon Ore Kingdom, but there wasn’t any specific interest.
“Take precautions, I’ll lead,” Heian Ciemnosc ignored the thoughts and said. He continued feeling that calling for a few minutes as he walked forward, with Evans following them this time. Anastasia and Grietta were at the center, with Evans gladly using his back to become the little gem’s seat.
The trip into the woods was silent. Heian Ciemnosc passed through several bushes, avoiding trees and walking atop them. He also remained slightly hunched, as if keeping a rule. The others behind him followed this behavior, except for Evans. He had a top-notch Third Step expert on his back, who would dare mess with him?
Heian Ciemnosc continued guiding everyone, using his senses to seamlessly travel, avoiding Fauna’s traps, their territories’ center, and even letting the little fellows fleeing on their sides to leave with their little lives intact. He felt like he returned to the Sinvonnia Kingdom, and although he only had remorseful memories before he went into the wilds every time, he felt at ease.
Nobody made noise and avoided wasting time, even when they passed by small ponds that looked beautiful and seemed full of exotic ambiance. After 2 hours, Heian Ciemnosc stopped before an empty piece of land with foot-tall, obscure green grass.
Every grass blade was the same length, width, and shape. It looked like a superficially grown garden with a circular, empty spot left just for decoration. However, one thing stood out from the standing foot-tall obscure green grass. A twig.
It looked like a tree’s branch’s twig. It didn’t have leaves, and seemed feeble. What’s more, it looked ghastly white, unlike anything else in this obscure, greenish woods. Even the trees around had a brown, murky black tone color. This was the only pale or whitey thing around, that belonged to the woods, since Heian Ciemnosc was even paler than this twig.
“Grab each other, and protect yourselves,” Heian Ciemnosc said after analyzing the twig in the center. His head was low. Anastasia was the first to act as she patted Evans’s head, and he shrunk to a pet size. His tiny figure silently looked at Anastasia as he posed on her right palm. Anastasia grinned and smoothly landed on the ground.
Heian Ciemnosc walked to the ghastly white twig and stopped a few inches before it. He looked down at it as if looking at a dumb child. Then, before he reacted, the twig swayed a little, and its tip moved as if waving at him before suddenly trembling and becoming stiff.
When Heian Ciemnosc felt the others behind him hold each other’s shoulders, and Grietta placed her hands on his nape, Heian Ciemnosc drove his hands low and grabbed at the twig. He wanted to put dark Vigor Energy and then convey his emotions like before to see if that actually worked in non-ghost situations like this. However…
PFUUUUUUUUUWWWPP!
In under an instant, the 12 of them were sucked into the twig, which covered them with a layer of blurry, pure energy and dragged them underneath. The twig didn’t teleport them. It didn’t seem that capable. It only reacted after Heian Ciemnosc delivered dark Vigor Energy to it, immediately acting and pulling Heian Ciemnosc into the ground with the others.
Heian Ciemnosc was fine, and his clothes were protected by his dark energy. If he hadn’t told the others, with the speed this twig used to drag them down, it would’ve at least made them eat a few kilograms worth of dirt.
CRRRRRGGGGHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
“...!” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes struggled to see through everything happening before him. His Spirit Sense was of little use, and all he could discern was more dirt and the seemingly cut-off yet endless length of the ghastly white twig.
PLOP!! Fwuuush~~! Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud…! Flap, flap! Whoosh- thud!
Heian Ciemnosc suddenly felt a strange sensation, but before he could prepare, his face didn’t meet any more dirt trying to break apart his dark energy barrier. Instead, he met emptiness and an obscure space. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes widened as he rapidly discerned this underground cave with his eyesight.
But before he could look around a little more, his body’s inertia continued, and he slammed his front on the tough floor, creating a cobweb around the spot where he fell. It seemed like the distance wasn’t much, but according to his previous experiences of being beaten the shit out of into far distances, he felt it was at least a couple kilometers from the ‘ceiling’ to the floor.
Before he could stand up and shake off the slight dizziness, he felt others about to suffer the same fate. They flew down the ceiling and crashed against the floor one after another. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t worry about Anastasia, as Grietta rapidly caught her and slowed their falling speed.
On the other hand, Evans flapped his wings in the air to the best of his capabilities before a towering Moy belly-slammed him downwards. Evans wanted to recuperate to his original form, but he was struck with his back against the floor before he could…
“...” Heian Ciemnosc was a little speechless as he saw everyone with their bums up and their faces down. After shaking his head, Heian Ciemnosc saw the group struggle to stand up, with Moy’s belly bleeding as Evans poked the shit out of him. Those were superficial stabs, but still.
Heian Ciemnosc looked at them before walking towards Anastasia. Only she and Grietta landed smoothly, thanks to the latter’s efforts. Heian Ciemnosc hugged Grietta’s waist as the trembling maids, holding onto Grietta’s thighs, let go of them with Anastasia’s help, who rolled her eyes at seeing her father’s adulterous moves.
“It’s fine, there’s no such danger here,” Heian Ciemnosc spoke after kissing Grietta, who wanted more, the damn hungry slut! Heian Ciemnosc kept hugging her waist as he looked around themselves.
Fwooooh…
Heian Ciemnosc suddenly felt strange. He looked towards a certain direction, searching for that sensation. The group looked at Heian Ciemnosc as if they couldn’t feel anything. But, suddenly, their backs felt cold. The skin on their backs shuddered, feeling something overly bizarre land its eyes on them.
They looked in the same direction Heian Ciemnosc was looking but saw nothing. At this time, even Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t see what attracted his attention. He narrowed his darkest eyes, but still nothing, until a strange, rectangular shaped image in a vertical position appeared before them within the dark.
“!” Heian Ciemnosc looked up after discerning this ‘thing’ was about a few hundred kilometers away from them. However, while that distance wasn’t small, this thing’s face and body looked as if they were just a few tens of meters way.
A pale, discolored blue tree trunk with a cut-off, hurt top, and a pained, helpless, old expression. Heian Ciemnosc saw it first, followed by Grietta, and then Anastasia. The others could also see it 1 second later. They were all flabbergasted by this image… How impossibly gigantic does something need to be to look like this despite the seemingly far distance between them?!
…