Working overtime on those Rifts. Those things get more dangerous the longer they exist. Things find more and more of them on the other side, and I had to massively overstrain my Presence.

Falling Leaf is for now in the Mansion locked away, as I have to focus all my power.

Luckily I found out colliding my Portal with them destabilizes them harder, but the effect is quite apocalyptic to put it mildly. Space bends, Gravity stops playing ball and lightning of whatever color you want make a scary backdrop.

I notice Leaf looking out of the rather tinted window. She can not see what happens, but I bet she feels the chaos. Even Snow dug under her cozy nest and waits for the Armageddon to stop.

Breaking rifts that way only takes a few Minutes but there are so many, I restart the end of the World in local theaters again and again, going slowly down the danger list.

…

Who would have known bigger rifts close way faster. As they hold open more space only touching them roughly makes them wobble. The Explosions after they got closed are more extreme though. It is like a second Miasmic Bomb but in smaller scale.

The rest of the large ones are now definitely on the Backlog, as they nourish the smaller ones, when imploding. Reinforcing the most annoying ones is a no go right now!

For three whole days I just hammer my portal into rifts again and again. Those things have to go, as the ones who are left ALL have some kind of presence behind them, trying to understand the Laws to invade.

My portal has started to change because of the whole ramming. It is already quite big, but now it pulses. Like a heart it seems to beat every time it starts fighting with another rift. For a while I stopped using it in fear of breaking, but could not halt for long, as now colors bleed in from two rifts, while another starts to hum in an ominous way.

Better see the damage later than being invaded by some creature that has all letters of the alphabet inside its name… twice.

I had to feed Snow multiple times and nearly forgot to feed Leaf as well. She was quiet and did not complain, so I nearly forgot her. The Guards were also there, but I ignore them, as I do not think of them too much, although I gave them food. The three, who wanted to attack me on the other tendril were already thrown into the Portal. In front of Leaf and the Soldiers. They did not protest in any way, just shivered.

…

The last large rift is closed. Finally it is OVER! While resuming the Mana generation I also push away all Miasma. It is now safe outside. Six additional days I needed to close them. Well additional to the time I already fought, was invaded, got bloodlust, became appeased and let the soldiers go.

I am more peaceful right now. The Roots came out of the Mansion and Snow is happy to be outside again. I am by all means not finished with everything, but I have breathing room again. The next thing should be creating the Gardens again. Everything inside was lost, but should be recoverable, as I have some spirits and seeds.

The next thing is rebuilding everything. Creating glass out of the silica, making new doors, repairing walls and roofs, opening the entrance again, creating new Gates and a new drawbridge, refurbishing the traps… Damn, I now see how thorough the Damage is. It will take weeks to return everything to working order.

…

The Soldiers are dead. Well not dead dead, but not really alive either. They committed suicide in their own way. As they know they are not allowed outside they had Leaf ask me for permission to become trees.

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With my knowledge I knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to insert one of their seeds right into their hearts and nourish it with their own Mana until they are gone. The Tree eating their whole body grows into their new ‘form’. It is believed to be the path to become closer to their origin and is their way of passage for People who either do not want or can not do anything anymore for the Roots.

I am not that pissed anymore about the whole fiasco, so I let them. The place they now live is outside the crater, where the destruction ravaged. They stepped in Formation and took their lives right there, with Red as my Eyes.

At first they wanted to die inside the Crater like promised, but as I am not able to secure their survival if something like that happens again, I gave permission to do it outside, but under my watch, so they do not just escape.

Red and Leaf watched them slowly sprout branches and their legs becoming roots. Their Formation is a protective phalanx mostly used to keep an important person safe, right around my Tunnel. It seems they think the same way as Falling Leaf about me now. I do not know if it really is that, or if they just try to soothe me into thinking Roots are peaceful. At least I will try my best to think a bit more positive about their brethren… no promises though.

…

“These are the plants I am cultivating. Right now I try to improve their mutation rate to create new species for use in Potions.”

“This is fascinating… and rather horrifying. You use filtered Miasma against them to force them in a specific transformation, that is rather unnatural. Miasma itself is pollution, but using it like that is never seen before.”

“Yeah, I try to extend my missing components for Potions by forceful mutation. As I have no access to other plants deeper into the Forest I am trying to create some alternatives myself.”

“You will have access soon enough, the Letter has reached my Queen for a few days already. No need to torture Plants too much.”

“Well… Let us see how they even react. The whole Matriarchy of the Roots is in full Isolationism. I bet the letter back will have revised proposals and after that it will be a long back and forth until I am even allowed to walk out of the Tunnel without an Arrow aimed at my skull.”

“I have faith in my sisters and brothers. They will do the right thing. If you want you can search my Brain too, to make sure I am telling the truth.”

“Nah, this will kill you, as I told you. Right now you are worth more alive as dead. Not only for my purpose but as person at my site for further negotiations.”

“As you wish.”

“…”

I do not understand her. She is suddenly tame and dedicated to me. How can someone suddenly shift so much?

I have her now as a resident, for better or worse. So I have to see if she can be of use. If not I could still take her over and disassemble her, but it rubs me the wrong way, as I start to search for my humanity and find only definitions, but neither a moral compass or apprehension to do things anyone would find horrible.

Right now by the way, I wait for the fusion of Red and one of the Soldiers to end. Their body lays in a closed room. Leaf did not even ask why my voice or height changed, she accepted it like it was a matter of course.

Let me change the subject, before I start pondering about all this too much. Snow right now is bigger than before. In retrospect to the rats living in the town (Void knows how some of them had survived the whole chaos) she is huge. Also she often walks adorably on her hind paws or hops around. Her favorite four things are Meditating, Sleeping, Eating and Exploring. Most of the time in that order.

I do not know what is happening, but right now I take it for granted. With the exception of Falling Leaf I have no other creature by my side, and Leaf behaves closely like a Slave.

…

Right now I am working on Reds body with Ava. Exploring the changes the fusion brought is best seen with an outside look. The reformed muscles show promising strength and flexibility. Everything seems to improve in a positive way. The bark on the back has the strangest transformation. It got smooth, like an armor plate. It seems closely like it started to become carbon fiber than wood. The density and robustness is extreme. Backstabbing will be close to impossible. Sadly this means the Spine is now completely rigid. I tried to make him more bendable, but now he is the opposite.

While probing the whole body I notice visitors. The Root finally brought their reply. I could go out, but it is more fun to see how they behave and what will Leafy do with them being here.

Sinews are made out of stronger material it seems. Red can use them perfectly but they are not bigger, just stronger and more resistant to tearing. They are still bendable and perfect for long stressing work.

Fingernails, bones and teeth have a high density and still leave some bend, it is a rather surreal combination of durability and flexibility.

{Leaf! You are alive!}

Ah, they found each other. I apologize for eavesdropping, but it can’t be helped.