Erden stomped in front and nudged Oscar aside, forcibly huffing strongly from his snout. His meaning was clear as day, contrary to the stormy sky full of rain. Oscar lowered his arms, holding back his Ein, and fed Erden some blue potion before sitting near the edge.
"Take your time. Don't be too hasty and get hurt too much." Oscar pulled out a large fur cloak and held it above his body to prevent more rain from pouring onto him. His skin was pale and cold after a long climb in the storm. The rain killed any possibility of starting a fire to warm up.
"Will Erden be fine?" Gol-4 said over Oscar's shoulder.
"He'll do fine. He spent all these years with us and has killed many Grovekeepers in the past. His anger toward them hasn't lessened in the slightest over nearly being sacrificed." Oscar let out a white breath, chilly from the heavy rain. In the distance, Erden mowed up several Grovekeepers and tore down the fortified walls.
Erden stood atop mounds of corpses, stomping on any intact Grovekeepers to ensure their deaths. His teal antlers had several Grovekeepers stuck on its branches like hanging fruit, an inconvenience to Erden as he whipped his head around to try to throw them off.
Seeing Erden's distress, Oscar moved past the broken ivory walls, tugged on the Grovekeepers on Erden's antlers, and pulled them off one by one, collecting their cores. Wanting to take some shelter from the rain for a short rest, Oscar went into one of the makeshift huts, smiling at the respite from the storm.
It was a pity he couldn't start a fire, or the huts would burn down. Oscar glanced around; the size of this branch wasn't large, able to accommodate a small village's worth of Grovekeepers.
"It's almost like an ant colony. How many branches have they occupied? How many of them are here?" Oscar patted Erden on the head as the deer rested on the dry floor.
"It doesn't matter. Victory will come with the downfall of the Forest Heart. We can escape the moment it's destroyed." Gol-4 levitated and spun around, spraying water everywhere in the hut, annoying Erden, who grunted at the head.
Gol-4's words were true, but Oscar feared what the Grovekeepers might do when backed into a corner. No one could match him when it came to being reckless beyond the norm in a desperate situation. If the Grovekeepers' last lifeline existed on this tree, this was their last hurrah.
After an hour, Erden got to his feet, cracking his neck and grunting, full of vigor. Oscar strapped Gol-4 to his shoulder and put on fur cloaks before entering the storm. Near the edge of the branch on the other side was a bridge made of vines, toppling and tussling around with the winds, near tearing apart.
A journey across this bridge seemed as safe as walking over a tightrope while someone violently shook it. Oscar measured the distance between his branch and the next. The distance wasn't too bad, a mighty leap away.
Lifting Erden over his shoulders, Oscar ran across the full width of his branch and kicked off with a great Eirin Silver Burst, forcing his way through the torrential rain and twisting gales. He landed right near the edge of the next branch with a huge sigh of relief.
This branch was slightly larger than the previous, and more Grovekeepers came out to greet him with hostility radiating from their rain-battered bodies. Oscar placed Erden down, and the two clashed against the group of Grovekeepers. Feeling the heat of the battle warm up his chilled body, Oscar craved more as he hacked apart Grovekeepers, stabbed them, crushed them up, and tossed them off the edge.
His rampage carried over to the next branch, the next, and the one after that.
…….
Oscar lifted his arms and casted Eirin Silver Cage. His years of training were not in vain as sturdy silver rods formed and erupted from the group, wrapping around two large Grovekeepers. Their brute strength cracked the rods, but the prisons held strong.
Several more strange mutated Grovekeepers surrounded him and charged like rapid beasts wanting to tear Oscar apart. As Oscar raised his defenses, his eyes narrowed as the Grovekeepers disappeared into thin air. Suspecting foul play, Oscar brought up his Eliren Breaker and saw faint silhouettes shuffling around him.
His Eliren Breaker wasn't strong enough to break through the illusion completely as the shadows kept slipping in and out. Oscar searched quickly and found a single distorted figure standing back, away from the rest. On top of his Eliren Breaker, Oscar focused more Ein into his pupils and cast Basilisk Eyes, sending a link of Ein toward where he guessed the other's eyes would be.
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Oscar felt the link hit and stabilize onto the other. The air and winds around him twisted unnaturally as the manipulator's hands could no longer overlay and shift them, and everything returned to normal. All around him, Grovekeepers appeared out of nowhere, a few inches away, about to kill him.
Erden and his deer anima trampled around, uprooting the Grovekeepers from the ground. Oscar jumped above and threw a punch straight down, a powerful force of Eirin Ripple Shroud and Shattering Wave spread over the Grovekeepers. Oscar turned around.
His next target was the illusion caster. One Eirin Silver Star later, the illusion caster had a large hole in its chest and fell apart into withered shreds. Oscar leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees to stay standing.
"Nice fight," Gol-4 praised.
Oscar recovered his breath, no longer feeling the tightness in his chest. His heart couldn't stop rattling during the battles. The more he grew stronger as an Exalt, the more pain his heart took from using Reis and Eirin. He felt a shudder down his spine as his fingertips went ghastly pale.
If he became a Knight Exalt, could he use Reis and Eirin? Aunt Rosett and his master said his heart had its limits. But without Reis, what other means did he have to fight against the odds to help the war effort outside? Cursing at his weak heart, Oscar wiped the blood from his lips and collected the cores.
"This place is quite big. Building a huge dome over a branch is quite a feat." Gol-4 said.
Oscar sat down, leaned against the tight vine walls, and exhaled. The dome covered the entire branch except for the entrance outside, housing an army of Grovekeepers. How it was made was anyone's guess. With so much space, Oscar started a fire without fear of burning the place down.
Oscar rubbed the paler places on his body, feeling better from the warm flames. A mixture of cold, rain, and pain in the heart had exhausted him to a wretched state. His cheekbones were visibly sunk in compared to before.
"Sleep, lad. You've overdone it. Erden and I will keep watch. And Demon can take over if needed though I'd prefer not to see him." Gol-4 smacked right onto Oscar's forehead, topping him on the ground. "See! You're not in the best shape."
"I guess a small amount of rest will do." Oscar's vision started to dim as his eyes fluttered and struggled before closing shut. Just a little more, and he'll be a step closer to home, closer to his family and friends.
An unknown number of hours later, Oscar woke up in the middle of his inner world. Demon and his deer anima were still and idle near his blue core. Oscar stood above Demon, who opened his chilling eyes.
"You should follow the head's advice and rest. Coming in here every time is not good for you." Demon scolded.
"I've been fighting beasts and Grovekeepers for far too long. I need to keep my senses sharp for the battle outside. Come on. Once again. Your priority is me, so I should make good use of you before I can get rid of you." Oscar taunted with a sharp gaze.
"As I said, I don't mind disappearing," Demon stood up. "But you're too anxious. Your feelings are spilling over to the core, quite chaotic as of recent years. Our deer anima is affected by it too. With this mindset, will you even be able to reach the Knight Exalt realm? Perhaps I should do it for us while you sleep."
"Enough," Oscar held up his hand to stop the conversation. "Hold up your hands, and let's fight."
"Fine. Then let's break you apart again." Demon walked closer with his hands relaxed and stopped an inch away from Oscar.
The inner world rippled from their punches colliding. There were no Ein, Reis, Eirin, or spells. It was a battle of wills and minds between Oscar and Demon, who fought brutally. In the end, Oscar suffered a kick to his chest and fell onto the floor.
"Who cares if they're dead? You're still alive." Demon stomped on Oscar's chest, and Oscar groaned in pain. "Everything is fine as long as you're alive. Yet, you can't understand that."
Oscar gripped Demon's leg and flung him away, but Demon landed on his feet, unamused and stoic as ever. Oscar felt his astral body fading as he was about to wake up. "I wonder why you can't understand. I'll see you later."
Waking up, Oscar squirmed around the floor before standing up. His body felt better, but his head hurt due to his spars against Demon. Eating a hearty breakfast, Oscar's mood improved, and he readied himself for the long battle ahead.
"We should be close to the top from here," Oscar said.
"Make sure you don't overdo it. I understand your anxiousness, but it's useless if you die from a mistake." Gol-4 instructed.
"Both of you…." Oscar chuckled.
"What?"
"Nothing. Let's head out, Erden."
…….
Oscar climbed up the Great Tree. Like Oen Fortress, this Great Tree had a chunk of land resting on its peak. Gripping tightly on the wet, jagged rock, Oscar lifted himself, withstood the fierce rain and winds, and reached the flat land where he beheld the largest dome of vines and green.
The only sentence he had for it was a green castle of ivy and leaves.
Oscar entered the large dome, bursting past the entrance with the rain and winds behind him. Shocked at the scene before him, Oscar lost his words momentarily before speaking softly, "What happened here?"
All over the dome were hundreds of Grovekeepers. They were all lying down, dead and withered. Thinking it was because of the sickness, Oscar went to one to find no signs it had been sick. Somehow, these Grovekeepers lost their lives, as if something took away their souls.
A slight creak reached his ear. Oscar snapped toward the source, finding a large beating green wooden heart, the Forest Heart he had been searching for. However, in front of it was a singular Grovekeeper. Its arms rippled with Ein and strength, unlike the thin, wooden limbs of its kind, and its body seemed more compact and tight, not at all loose.
"You…have…come." The Grovekeeper said.
"It talks?" Oscar and Gol-4 exclaimed.