Abraham’s hunger was slowly getting more out of control. He held onto his abdomen with one hand as he used the other to slash through the bushes in front of him.

‘What is up with this ominous feeling…’ He stopped in his tracks and began pondering for a moment. 'I could've dealt with the situation earlier better... I truly rushed coming in here.'

He heaved a sigh and sat down for a little rest 'Well, perhaps getting out of there as quickly as possible wasn't so bad of an Idea. If what I suspected earlier turned out to be true that is... but for that I need to first reach the other side of this forest.'

He had many other questions. The biggest one being how the hell was he still alive and the answers... all lie in front of him. Beyond this 'forest'. Or so he thought.

He got up and turned his attention back to the direction he was heading. "That's right. All my answers lie beyond this forest... I need to get to the other side quickly!"

***

He had been walking in the same direction for quite a while now, with minimal rest. Luckily, the bushes had been getting less dense the further he went in. It was quite clear he was about to reach a clearing. ‘I hope I find a human settlement outside… and preferably one that tolerates guests.’

Abraham’s footsteps became more haggard and his heart began racing the closer he got to a clearing.

Abraham’s face turned into that of worry. He began thinking about the possibility of danger lurking on the other side of this forest.

What if the tentacle monstrosity was waiting for him on the other side—to smash him to a pulp? Or what if there was another monster, lying in ambush waiting for its prey? What if he became the prey of the said monster? Many ominous thoughts kept pouring into his mind.

‘Screw that. I will just deal with it when it comes. I must get to the other side or I will starve to death either way.’ Abraham slashed through the bushes in front of him.

And as soon as he did so, his eyes were blinded with a flash of light. And not the bloody crimson light from earlier, but proper white light! ‘I’m out!’

He ran straight through the bushes, reaching the other side of the forest. But what he saw was not at all what he had expected.

What stood before him was a gigantic tree—no, calling it gigantic would be an understatement. It was so massive that its peak was hardly visible. So massive that the tentacled monstrosity Abraham encountered earlier would look like an ant in front of it. The entirety of the land around it was covered with thick roots.

The tree's leaves were dark red and its trunk was pale white. From the branches of the tree, grew fruits the size of a truck each. The fruits emitted a white light and thus, their colour was hard to decipher.

The tree was surrounded by massive black walls of equal length to the tree. Completely enclosing the area as the leaves of the tree completely covered the sky. The entire place was filled with an eerie silence and the occasional sound of massive leaves falling on the ground. As for the ground itself, it was filled with beautiful green grass. Which, when compared to the deathly landscape Abraham had found himself in earlier, felt like an oasis in an endless desert.

The place was extremely enclosed. Thus, not a single breeze of wind could be felt. It all felt extremely still and dull. However, that dullness quickly faded away when one looked at the majesty of the massive tree.

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Alongside the roots, were several weapons of all kinds—stuck in the ground and the roots. Several swords and spears along with arrows, knives and all kinds of other stuff trotted along on top of the roots as if a massive army was trying to attack the tree. But strangely enough, not a single one could be found on the trunk.

‘Beautiful…’ He thought while slowly trodding towards the tree. It was certainly not an easy task. The clusters of roots made it extremely hard to walk through that place. He took the help of the many weapons stuck on the roots and eventually made his way to the foot of tree.

Abraham’s mind was filled with nothing but appreciation for the great tree in front of him. How beautiful, truly a spectacle, absolutely magnificent, all kinds of different words of praise went through his mind. He felt a strange sense of fulfilling happiness. As if he has found everything he ever needed. As if he could spend his entire life under the radiance of this tree. He felt as if there was no point in life away from the tree.

‘Well this seems like… a nice place to….’ Before he could finish his thoughts, his mind went blank. His entire body lost it's strength as it plunged to the ground, completely unconscious.

***

Bang!

The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the room. Accompanied by a short shriek of a woman. The two sounds added a little life to the otherwise mundane room in a regular house nothing-out-of-the-ordinary house. But that soon got replaced by an eerie silence.

“I- n-no…” The voice of a small boy echoed throughout the dark, silent room as he dropped the gun he held in his hands onto the wooden floor. The boy had black hair and his eyes were blue like an ocean. He looked extremely cute like a small doll. Except for a few injuries on his face that looked as if he had been hit with something sharp.

But that was not the only injuries he had. His entire body, which was covered from head-to-toe in clothes that made sure everything was hidden, was in fact filled with injuries that looked like he had been hit with something blunt and sharp. And his expression on the other hand, looked as if his entire world had collapsed.

The boy fell on his knee. And his entire body got wet with the woman's blood. The red blood covered his tiny little hands as tears continued dropping from his cheeks.

‘What have I done?’ He thought. This entire thing had come to him as a shock. A guilty feeling that he was not expecting. If he could turn back time, he would never, ever, dare do anything like this again.

Even if… what he did was right.

The sounds of sirens began blasting outside the house. It was clear now. His life would never go back to normal.

***

“Huff… Huff… What an unpleasant dream.” Abraham spoke as drops of sweat poured down from his face and his eyes showed an expression of horror. He got up from his spot and turned his attention towards the great tree.

He gave a slight bow to the tree as his worries began fading away. His face curled up into a smile and his mind got filled with eternal reverence for the tree.

“Luckily I’m near the tree. I’ll never have to worry about such small things ever again.” Abraham sat on a root near the tree. He began thinking about what he would do next. ‘Mmm… I should probably begin by cleaning the area around the tree… wait what would the tree want?’

Abraham got up from his place and steadily walked to the foot of the tree. He bowed down to the tree and spoke gently, making sure not to sound rude. “O Great Tree, your servant is here to serve you. Is there anything that you desire from me?”

After he finished speaking, the entire area was engulfed by silence for a while. But the silence soon broke as one of the branches of the tree shook, dropping the white fruit dangling from them onto the ground.

“I have been blessed! You knew I was suffering from hunger! Praise the benevolent Tree!”

Abraham hurriedly ran over to the fallen fruit. Which now looked like a ball covered with white scales. It looked extremely hard but in reality, it was far from it. Abraham chewed onto the fruit with ease, eating a small portion of it. But that was already enough to fill his stomach.

“I can truly live here for the rest of my life! Serving under the Benevolent Tree!”

***

Author: everyone's senior

Editor: St. Einz