“Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“Bwahaha!” the tree cackled. “You should’ve seen your face!”
“What is…”
“You know that trees don’t have a penis, right? Did you skip school or something?”
Lucas was feeling a headache coming. He went to find a wise ancient tree and found this instead. Also, for the first time, he remembered his multilingual knowledge that was granted by the System when he arrived. There was no way that the tree knew English, right? Was he even speaking in English? Did Faruk? It was weird how it worked; he didn’t even know which language they were speaking, but the next time he spoke, he noticed weird words were coming out of his mouth as he vocalized his message.
“I came to you because I have a few questions I would like to ask…”
It sounded like gibberish, and at the same time, it sounded just like regular English. This was really confusing topic, and not one he could give much thought at the moment, so he stopped thinking about it. There were more pressing issues at the moment.
“You humans are so serious, always strict to business with ya. You should have seen this other guy; he came here talking all professor-like, a real figure that one.”
“You mean Faruk?”
“Faruk… Yeah, that sounds right. You know, that fella ruined my forest with that ritual of his; are you looking to do the same?” The voice took a sudden turn, becoming way more threatening.
That made Lucas freeze momentarily. The first interaction made him think this tree wasn’t something to be afraid of, but then he thought about identifying the tree for the first time.
Sapient Silvanox
Lvl: ??
He already knew that when he couldn’t identify a beast, it was because its level was too high compared to his. This was a tree he couldn’t upset. He never thought he would feel threatened by a tree in his life. Talking to it was already weird enough; he didn’t even know where to look since the tree had no discernible face. Actually, the only sign that it was alive was that some branches moved from time to time. He had no idea where the voice was coming from, which didn’t make any less imposing, however.
“No, not at all. Actually, I’m not a necromancer, so I couldn’t…”
“But you want that orb, right?” The tree cut him short.
“Orb?” Lucas was confused for a second until he thought of something. “Do you mean the power source underneath the ground?”
“So you do want it, huh? I knew it. You humans are so greedy. Even with that man as testimony on why it’s a bad idea to covet things you can’t have, you’re still willing to throw yourself in the fire for some shiny new things, ain’t that right?”
“Well, he said you didn’t want to help him, so I thought…”
“Wait, wait, wait. He said? Didn’t he die like a thousand years ago, and how do you know his name, by the way?” The tree sounded confused and intrigued.
“A thousand?” Lucas was even more shocked. Okay, he only saw the skeleton, but he thought that was because of the way he died. Did he actually decompose right there?
“If I’m not mistaken, yeah. And although I’m not an expert on humans, you don’t look that old… Wait, what planet is this?” That last part was said very quickly, like it had just remembered something important.
“Planet? Ponos.” Lucas didn’t understand why the tree asked him that, but he had a bad feeling about it. The tree went silent after his answer and then sighed.
“That explains it, I guess. What was it, there was some kind of NPC? Or let me guess, you had to enter the fog of the necromancer and save the forest, or some stupid shit like that,” The voice suddenly seemed tired and almost sorrowful.
“Yes, kinda. And there was an NPC, but he didn’t know Faruk. I found his skeleton after going through the fog and there was a journal amongst his things. He narrated the encounter with you… You are the oldest tree, right?”
“Yes, I am.” The tree was silent for a while. “Tell me, what did the book said?”
“It mentioned a seed, and that you wouldn’t give it to him because you feared for the repercussions his failure might have on the forest,” Lucas explained.
The tree sighed again. “The System doing System things.”
“What do you mean?” Lucas was intrigued by that answer. He was now sure that the tree was no NPC, and that made him even more curious. If it wasn’t an NPC, could this still be considered part of the quest? Should he be there to begin with?
“Do you really think a man like him would waste his time writing his day-to-day?” the tree asked, with scorn in its voice.
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Lucas took some time to answer that, as he reflected on the words. The whole format of the journal seemed a little strange to him at first, with studies and theories composing the bulk, and then in the last pages, a detailed account of his day-to-day. It seemed almost made-up, something you would see in a movie.
“If he didn’t write it, then who did?” Lucas asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” the tree scoffed.
“… The System… But why?”
“For your little quest, of course. And that’s just one thing; my whole forest got transported to another planet just for that single purpose. It’s all a big show, and I’m the million-year-old extra on that show.”
“You were from another planet?!”
That was just a lot to take in. He already guessed the System was an all-powerful entity, but it still shocked him to know they could casually transport an entire forest with beings in it without them even becoming aware.
“Yes, another planet used for the Second Chance Program. I mean, it makes sense for them to reuse some settings instead of making everything from scratch, but I believe the reason they took my forest was only because of the orb that lies underneath. I was probably just a bum who was hanging around nearby for them.” That last part was said with profound disgust and resentment.
“So there’s more planets with the Second Chance Program… That makes sense, I guess, only that I’m not sure what this Second Chance Program really is.”
“Do you think they briefed me?” the tree said, annoyed.
Lucas understood why it was annoyed. After all, he was asked if he wanted to come, even if not much else was explained. It would be messed up if his whole neighborhood was transported all of a sudden to another galaxy and he didn’t even know before someone told him. But even though he understood the anger, he couldn’t say he agreed with the tree’s previous statement. He didn’t believe that it was all a big play at all; he actually never felt more free in his life, but it probably would be wise not to mention it.
“Er. About the seed… I’m not a necromancer, so I wouldn’t further destroy your forest.” He wasn’t sure of how to proceed now that things got awkward, but he remembered the life-related treasures that the journal mentioned. “And also, I inherited the treasures the necromancer had; maybe those can be useful to you.”
“Inherited? Didn’t you just plunder from his corpse?” the tree replied, still sounding grumpy.
“Well…”
The tree sighed. “Look kid, I actually quite liked that Faruk fellow despite the way he talked. But what I told him, I will tell you: it’s not possible to take that orb from where it is. It’s been there longer than I exist…”
Lucas was ready to reply when the tree continued.
“However, you really are different from Faruk, not because you are not a necromancer, but because I felt something in you when you touched me before; there’s something different about your body.”
Lucas heart thumped hard. Was it talking about his special constitution? That was the first time anyone noticed this; not even Lucas could feel what had changed.
“The System granted me a special constitution…” Before he could hold himself back, he had already said it.
“Hm… I understand.” The tree remained silent for a few moments, making Lucas even more nervous. “By the way, perhaps it would be wise to not go around telling everyone that. People might kill you just to not have to worry about what this special constitution of yours could do in the future.”
Lucas froze. He knew he shouldn’t have said anything, but the prospect of getting some answers made he be reckless.
“Don’t worry, I won’t kill you,” the tree said casually.
That made him feel relieved; he had really messed up saying that to someone he barely met, but he trusted the tree when it said it wouldn’t kill him because he was sure that if it wanted to, he couldn’t escape.
“So, will you help me?”
“… Yes, under a few conditions.” Lucas was about to celebrate when the tree started talking again. “And I can’t promise it will work, but even if it fails, I’ll try my best to keep you alive. However, you’ll have to fulfill the conditions even if it doesn’t work.”
This time, it was Lucas who went silent. When he came to the tree, he had no expectations that it would accept his proposal, and he was even more sure that it wouldn’t after seeing it wasn’t an NPC and probably not even a part of the quest. But now, somehow, there was some hope. He didn’t know what that orb was, but just the fact that the tree talked so highly of it made him want it, and besides, didn’t the System move a whole forest just for that thing? He needed to go after every possible treasure if he wanted to get ahead of others.
“I accept, as long as you don’t make unreasonable demands. What are your conditions?”
“First, I want all the treasures you have taken from Faruk’s corpse.”
He frowned; he had just gotten those and was already having to give them up. But in the bigger picture, Faruk himself believed that the orb could raise his power to the next level, so it should be a good trade. However, there was still some doubt in his mind about this whole treasure thing, so he tentatively said:
“Weren’t you only interested in the life-related ones? What will you do with the death-related ones?”
“Does he have a death-related treasure?”
Lucas went silent, because in truth, he had no idea what a death-related treasure looked like; he just imagined that as a necromancer he should have some of those.
“If I remembered correctly, he must have used everything he had to try and connect with the orb,” the tree said again.
“Yes, yes. You are right, I was just testing you, haha…”
“You have no idea what a life or death-related treasure is, do you?”
“Not really.”
Although the tree didn’t move, he could imagine it shaking its head, like it was talking to a stupid kid.
“Look, these life-related treasures are valuable to plant lifeforms like me. It may be useful to you, due to your constitution, but that orb is way more valuable if you are able to get it. This is a fair deal.”
“What do you know about my constitution?” Lucas was intrigued by the mention of his constitution again, it looked like the tree knew more than it was telling him.
“So they didn’t tell you much about it, huh? All right, let’s consider that part of the deal. I’ll tell you what I know after you have taken the orb, and only if you can do it.”
Lucas sighed. That tree was too cunning, and he had no ability in the haggle business as of yet.
“Fine. Here.” He unloaded everything that looked like a treasure out of his ring, only keeping the books, weapons and coins. “This is all I have. What is the other condition?”
“We can discuss this later, after you’ve taken the orb. I promise I won’t ask for much.”
“How do I know you won’t steal the orb afterwards?” he asked suspiciously.
“Why would a tree want a death orb? I hate that thing; I’ll be glad if you manage to take it out.”
Lucas was new to this world, so he didn’t know much, but that seemed to make sense; trees were full of life, and death was an opposing force. Besides, he saw what that thing, along with the necromancer, did to the forest. He wasn’t even sure what he would do with it, but he wasn’t too concerned about it, if he couldn’t use it, he could just sell or trade it for something else.
“All right. I’ll believe you. Where is the seed, and what does it do?”
“Here,” it was the weirdest thing seeing one of the branches moving towards him, but he received the seed that looked small in the palm of his hand. “And about what it does… it kills you.”