I held the arbor heart in my hand as time ticked down and realized I had no idea what to do next. I raised the heart above my head and aligned it with the sun above me. I then moved it slightly to where the sun would be at high noon. I was about to ask the Matriarch for advice when something changed. I felt a hand on my back. When I turned around there was no one there. Next, I heard a voice speaking all around me. I turned but none of the people I could see were making a sound. Based on the lack of reactions no one else could hear it. It took my brain a second longer to process that the voices were speaking in English. I brought the Heart down and placed it to my ear. The voices grew louder. There were so many that I couldn't understand what they were saying. The heart began to thrum with energy a moment later.

I raised my heart into the air just as the sun reached its apex. A thin beam of golden light shot down from the heavens. It hit me and the heart and for just a moment I was connected to everything. I was running through the desert one moment and flying high above the ground the next. I felt like I had returned to being a baby and was at the very last moment of my life. The Alpha and the Omega existed at the same moment. Like the whole world held its collective breath. The sensation ended a second later as the Arbor Heart shot out of my hands. It flew into the sand at the base of the cliff wall. The heart passed through the sand disturbing a single grain. I couldn't take my eyes off that spot. For a moment nothing happened, it felt like we were standing in the heart of a maelstrom. Suddenly a pillar of light shot out of the ground and into the air. The pillar shot into the sky and a prompt filled my vision.

Would you like to plant the Arbor Heart?

Yes/No

I selected yes without hesitation. A moment later the pillar of light vanished. Then the sun above us dimmed as if someone had put a filter over it. I looked around at everyone and was just about to ask Osenda what we were supposed to do now when the sand beneath us began to sink. After a few seconds, it was like standing on the banks of a sinkhole. I scrambled back from the edge afraid that it would expand and consume the entire town. Before I could warn everyone to back off a thick thread of red energy shot out of the ground. Followed a second later by one of green, ashen grey, dark brown, and lustrous gold. Each thread spirals around each other as if in dance while flying high into the sky. They sailed up until they were 380 feet in the air. At their tips, they merged into a multicolored spiral that split off into five directions. Each of them splits like the fingers of a hand. The branches continued to split until it was impossible to count them all. I turned when Osenda called out.

"It's a Imasianna!?!" The confusion and awe in their voice made me do a double take. I had no idea what that meant but before I could ask a storm of prompts hit me.

You have completed the Quest: Heart of Life I

You have completed your agreement and planted the Arbor Heart in the heart of your domain.

Rewards: 35,000 Experience Points

Notice! For bringing a natural wonder to your settlement you have proven yourself to be a competent leader. As a result, you have been rewarded with the following skill levels. Congratulations! Your skill Governance has leveled up. Governance has reached levels 8,9,10..., and 35. +35% to Morale, Loyalty, and Production for your village.

Congratulations! Due to your hard work and dedication, you have advanced a skill rank. Your Governance skill has advanced from Amateur to Student. You have unlocked the Town Governor job. You have been awarded 1,000 experience points for this achievement.

Congratulations! Due to your hard work and dedication, you have advanced a skill rank. Your Governance skill has advanced from Student to Adept. All settlements under your control will now have a reduction of 5% in all negative morale, loyalty, and production penalties. You have been awarded 2,000 experience points for this achievement.

Additional Reward: 7,000 experience points for all of your citizens

Notice! You have grown an Imasianna. This is a primordial tree and one of the first in all of existence. It is said that the sap of the Imasianna has the ability to unlock the potential of anyone who imbibes it. Everyone present at the birth of this tree will find their limits changed and their ability to grow increased.

Notice! Due to the fact that you have grown this tree on a Place of Power made up of five different powers this Imasianna is unique. It has been imbued with the powers of Lumos, Pyro, Spira, Necros, and Geos. Anyone who imbibes the sap of this tree may find their affinities with these types of magic boosted.

Notice! Due to the spells cast on the Arbor Heart before planting has connected the tree to your Place of Power. This has caused the resulting dryad to undergo an evolution. Your Imasianna has advanced to level 3.

Congratulations! The Imasianna has reached levels 1,2 and 3!

Thanks to the presence of a level 3 primordial tree your land has been infused with motes of life and creation. Your hand is 30% more fertile. Your crops, animals, and citizens require 30% less water, All water sources in your land produce 30% more water.

You have leveled up! You have reached levels 12, 13, 14 and 15! Hard work, dedication, and luck have guided your steps. Blood, sweat, and tears have forged your path. Grow and strive forward into the horizon. Through the completion of your trials and labors, you have taken another step into the future. Your hard work has earned you the following rewards.

Category Per level Unspent Points Attribute Points Because of your Aetheric nature, your per-level rewards have been modified. You have been awarded 7 Attribute Points to distribute however you like. 28 Skill Progression +25% Progress to any skill of your choice. 100%

You have been offered the Quest: Heart of Life II

The re-emergence of a primordial tree has untold benefits for Akopia. Its arrival will not be ignored your miracle needs power to hold it and wisdom to sustain it.

Quest Details: Protect the Imasianna until the Dryad is ready to emerge

Rewards: Unknown

Penalty for Failure: Unknown

Do you accept: Yes/No

I read through each prompt twice before dismissing it. I wanted to dive into my new attribute points immediately but people had already started murmuring and I had a feeling I was running out of time. I quickly accepted the quest because I saw no reason at all to refuse it. The tree was already here and it sounded amazing. I was a bit worried about the extra reward only going to his people and not to the Ifrit but it sounded like the parts about limits being expanded would help everyone. A glance told me that I wasn't the only one that had leveled up. Looking at the people around me several people had leveled up.

I hadn't thought about it but outside of the adventurers, most people weren't that high in level. According to Amara's notes, the average person was hovering around level 5. The children and teenagers were closer to level 1 through 3 which meant they all would have gained at least a couple of levels. I was about to ask Amara to make a list of who had grown and how they should spend their points before I stopped myself. This wasn't a game as far as I could tell. This meant these were real people and things could turn into all kinds of evil if I started telling people how they were allowed to live their lives. The road to hell and all that so I decided to leave it to families to take care of. I caught eye with Amara who was stunned. Her eyes had bulged to the size of saucers and she was muttering to herself. I waved at her but she either wasn't paying any attention or literally couldn't see me. I snapped a finger causing her to stumble back a step and look at me.

"This experience is because you planted the tree?" I nodded and a muttering of "Thank You came from the crowd. The stunned silence still hung in the air and it was starting to get creepy. I was just about to say something when a new prompt appeared.

Your actions have benefited your people. Morale increased by +200. Total Morale: +272. New Morale rank reached. Morale rank: Happy.

The morale of your settlement has increased one rank. Your leadership has caused a marked improvement in the lives of your people. They are happier and as a result, work harder to serve you. +5% to Population Growth. +5 to Production. +5 to Militancy

Loyalty increased by 200. Total Loyalty: +272. New Loyalty rank reached. Loyalty rank: Faithful. The loyalty of your settlement has increased. You have shown your people that you care for them now they look to prove that they care about you. +10% to Production

“Thank you for this, my lord. I had assumed I wouldn’t be leveling up again. You do not know how much this means to me.” She then bowed deeply to me. I turned as the sound of movement hit my ears. The entire crowd, a crowd of over 3,500, had bowed in unison. I stared at them for a moment, my heart swelling the pride and accomplishment. I turned and looked at the tree and was stunned by how beautiful it was. The tree’s trunk had a spiral design that led up from the ground and into the canopy. The wood was a beautiful mixture of green, red, grey, brown, and gold. The leaves were spread out and in five different colors. Each one represents one of the arcane veins. Green for Spira, Red for Pyro, Bone grey for Mortos, Dark Brown for Geos, and the fifth a lustrous gold representing Lumos. The tree was almost 400 hundred feet tall. The trunk was about seventeen feet around. The leaves were nearly two feet in length and six inches wide. Each leaf had a unique design as if someone had handcrafted them.

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I made my way over to the tree and caught sight of something strange. The tree’s center was slightly hollow. It was like I could twist the spiral open. In the center was a vaguely humanoid shape. It wasn’t quite the same as the dryad that had given me the Arbor Heart, but it was pretty close. “I guess you are the dryad I have to keep safe?” I looked at it for a few more seconds before turning and making my way around the base of the tree. The sheer size of the thing was amazing. It wasn’t quite large enough for the canopy to cover the city, but it was large enough to cover everything at the base of the wall. A gust of wind told me that Tenebris and Sanaa had taken off into the upper reaches of the tree. I chuckled as they flew up and up. Part of me yearned to join them in the air, but for now, there was nothing I could do about that.

“My Lord, some citizens would like to know if they can walk around the tree.” Amara’s voice made me jump a little. I looked back and found people in the crowd talking and pointing at different parts of the tree.

“Sure, that’s fine with me. Remind everyone not to hurt the tree.” I looked around until I found the Ifrit. The Matriarch had her people standing around her while sat underneath a section of dark red leaves. I made my way over and gasped in shock. As soon as I got underneath this section of the canopy, it felt like I had entered a sauna. The air was at least ten degrees warmer than the rest of the tree. I looked around and based on how other people were reacting, the effect wasn’t unique to this one.

“You have done something truly impressive, Lord Maximillian,” Shauriana spoke softly and gestured for me to join her.

I stepped up next to her and leaned against the canyon wall. “It is a lot more than what I was expecting. I don’t think I understand everything that happened. The tree will deal with our water needs for now. Did your people gain anything?"

She nodded. “Several of them received a boost in their affinities. The boost was modest but notable for more than a few of them. I know we are thankful for your invitation. You did not have to do that.”

I opened my mouth to reply when a pair of notifications came into view.

Congratulations! You have gained 2000 Relationship Points with Matriarch Shauriana! Your relationship has improved from friendly(+1,000) to friendly(+3,000).

Congratulations! You have gained 2000 Relationship Points with the Ifrit of the Burning Chasm! Your relationship has improved from friendly(+1,000) to friendly(+3,000).

Congratulations! You have gained 2,000 Relationship Points with Zakia! Your relationship has improved from Admired (+12,700) to Admired (+14,700).

Congratulations! You have gained 2,000 Relationship Points with Angalia! Your relationship has improved from admired(+10,500) to Admired(+12,500).

Congratulations! You have gained 3,000 Relationship Points with Kita! Your relationship has improved from happy(+3,500)to helpful(+6,500).

The sheer amount of things that had just happened was starting to become overwhelming. I smiled at the group. “I am glad that everything was beneficial. I apologize for not being able to bring all of your people here.”

"There is no need for that. The fact that you shared it at all speaks to your character, my friend. I don’t know if I would have been so magnanimous. I will give you a bit of free advice. I would suggest you keep the whereabouts of the tree hidden for as long as possible. You have gained a true treasure here today."

I sighed and looked up at the tree. I would have to decide how to deal with those problems later. “As always, I welcome your counsel. For now, though, please enjoy yourselves. There will be plenty of time to worry about tomorrow.” I pulled myself to my feet and gave each of the Ifrits a polite bow before leaving them to their devices. I wandered around the tree until I found a quiet corner that was beneath a canopy of green leaves. The leaves blew in an invisible wind that gave a wonderful breeze when you were under it. I took a seat and closed my eyes. I let the breeze wash over me for several long minutes. Once I was truly relaxed, I pulled up my status screen and got to work.

First, I spent my skill progression. 100% went into Lumos magic bringing up to and then halfway through level 16. I considered splitting up between Pyro and Lumos to reach level 10 but decided against it. I would need to start building a bit more narrowly soon and I was going to be fighting things soon, so it should level up fast enough. Next came the attribute points. Five went into Strength bringing it up 20. A slightly guilty seven points went into Charisma, bringing it up to 33 if you included the cloak. Ten went into Intelligence for the boost in Magic Points. That left an additional six points. I considered dumping it into Wisdom, but my regen was pretty good. Instead, I turned to my two lowest stats. The way things stood, I was not very fast or flexible, and apparently, I was blind. I sighed and placed all six points into Perception. I would need to boost both those attributes with the next couple of levels. Once I finished assigning the points, I reviewed everything.

Name:Darterrius Solomon Maximilian

Level:15,50% Age:26 Species:Human(Altazian) Alignment: Neutral Good(0/1) Languages: All Renown: Curiosity(2500) Characteristics Health:254 Magic:481

Regen/min 18

Stamina:220

Regen/min 10

Attributes Agility:10 Charisma:33 Endurance: 20 Intelligence:40 Luck:20 Perception: 17 Strength:20 Vitality:20 Wisdom:30 Skills

(Level, Experience, Affinity) Crafting Skills

Cooking: 4,0%,92%

Mining: 12,30%, 85%

Magic Skills

Dual Casting: 12,0%,100% Lumos:16,50%,100% Pyro:9,30%,100%

Spira: 8,45%,100%

Martial Skills

Riding: 8,30%,70 Tracking: 1,20%,70 Utility Skills Governance: 35, 5% 100%

Statecraft: 3,60%,80% Abilities Arcanum Infinitum: You always have 100% affinity with every magic. You are immune to the adverse effects of casting magic. You can teach any magic that you know.

Eidetic Memory: You have an enhanced memory. The effectiveness of this ability increases with the user's Intelligence attribute.

Erudite Mind: Your skills Progress 30% faster.

Soul Bond: Represents the connection between you and your soul familiars

True Speak: The user can speak and understand any language.

Emblems

Mark of the Suzerain

Resistances

5% Emotional

5% Mental 25% Radiant

25% Umbra

I was shaping up pretty nicely. I closed the window and finally stopped, ignoring the most important of my notifications. I sent a call through our bond and summoned Tenebris and Sanaa to me. I wasn’t sure if their improvements would knock them out every time, but it was better to be safe. A moment later, they both landed on my shoulders. After they settled, I pulled up their status screen and grinned.