Cheers suddenly erupted and the grove started changing. The wooden stakes all disappeared in the ground along with the goblin and orc bodies; well whatever was left of them. The ground was restored with grass and only a deep hole remained in the centre which was dug by us for the trap. The trees slightly trembled and were enveloped by a bright light and when the light cleared they looked as good as new. In fact, they looked exactly like the reinforced trees we had a few hours ago; only the bark had a darker shade of brown. It seemed as if the trees had accepted the extra wood as a part of their own and had grown much stronger and sturdies. The most noticeable change occurred to my tree. It was much thicker and taller than the other trees. It’s branches extended inside the nearby Zapis trees foliage almost as if it were weaving it’s own branches with the branches of those adjacent trees. The bark was not smooth and appeared as if a thick and long snake was running around it. Just like how it was covered in hard roots over hardwood, my tree had a very unique bark now with a spiral pattern beginning from the bottom all the way up to the edge of every twig and branch.
The next few moments were spent in silence and all the fae were captivated by their new and more beautiful grove.
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Soon another change followed. All the 6 Walkers other than me, some sprites and all lesser Hamadyrads were enveloped by a silver glow akin to the light which covered the trees a few second ago.
They were all evolving.
When the light disappeared, the sprites were all slightly bigger and had sprouted transparent wings like that of a dragonfly. Their hair length grew and their build became broader and stronger. Their skin tone turned to a lighter shade of brown and they soon started fluttering their wings at a rapid speed almost invisible to the eye to fly around!
As these new and evolved fae were rejoicing, the lesser Hamadyrads all completed their evolution. Their lower bodies had disappeared and only the upper body remained protruding from the bark of their trees. Their beauty lept beyond the limits of what one could perceive and their size had increased drastically.
The fae were known to grow fast and increase in size by each level but this was ridiculous.
The upper half of these new Hamadyrads was comparable to, if not bigger than most of the goblins we killed; it was almost a the same as the upper body of a full grown adult human!
The Hamadyrads were covered in leaves and plants and their hair made of flowing greens. Their skin emanated a pure and lush green. One could easily mistake them to be a marvelous sculpture made by nature, plants and micro greens.
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I was quite disappointed as most of my pawns had evolved and were probably stronger than me now. But I had to organize the information I already had and take further actions.
I started by using『Appraisal』on the ones that evolved. First came the winged fae.
Species: Special Wood Pixie Name: Walker Cho
Status
HP:
MP:
1570/1570
1110/1110
“.....” I was speechless. Not only had the first walker I appraised had become a pixie, she had gotten a name and special species! Will I have to call her Cho-chan?!?!?
There were a total of 12 Wood Pixies, out of which six were a part of the Walkers. The First Walkers were Cho-chan, Mo-kun, Jo-kun and Amie-chan. The Second Walkers were Chotaru-kun and Motaru-kun.
I ignored the obvious hierarchical naming and pondered on another matter. All pixies other than the Walkers were Wood Pixies and not Special Wood Pixies. Furthermore, they had significantly lesser HP and MP & also had no names.
The Walkers all had a new skill 『 Mana Shot 』which was essentially a small orb of white light they could shoot at their opponents from a distance.
Additionally, and perhaps the most interesting information was given by Cho-chan who spoke timidly, “Ch-Chimon-san? I-I now have a-a ti-title.” Upon further talks with other Walkers I gathered that The First Walkers had a title 「First Generation」and The Second Walkers 「Second Generation」.
It was safe to conclude that the groups I assigned had special abilities distinguishing themselves from the rest of the fae present.
This matter was very interesting but I had started forming a plan for the same. If I could create squadrons of fae and name them as a part of walkers, wouldn’t I have an army of special species?
But the question remained: What was so special in just accompanying me? Did they get the title only upon evolution? Does this happen with other fae species?
There were too many variables and these results could only be called incomplete for now.
Before retreating to my home in my hometree, I used 『Appraisal』on the Hamadyrads.
Species: Hamadyrad Name: -
Status
HP:
MP:
2100\2100
3000\3000
Considering the battle potential of the lesser Hamadyrad, it wasn’t surprising to see stats like this. I checked for any abnormal conditions, skills or titles they might have gained like the Walkers did but to my dismay only the Walkers had surpassed logic. “This is just another headache; and what was that about authority of the grove??” I mumbled under my breath and moved to my hometree.
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All fae had returned to their homes and I too, had done the same. My house hadn’t changed but the tree certainly had.
“『Appraisal』” I said as I looked on the branch I stood on.
Species: Zapis Orola Durability: 3000/3000
Other than the name of my tree, something unexpected showed up too.
“If Durability is like HP thenn…” I grew a wooden thorn on my hand and stabbed it below me.
Nothing.
I repeated the process for a few minutes before finally stabbing inside the tree.
“『Appraisal』” I spoke out loud as I looked at the dent like hole on the branch I stood on.
Species: Zapis Orola Durability: 2987/3000
“As I thought. But the defense of the tree has improved unbelievably.”
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Then perhaps the most anticipated moment came as I finally used 『Appraisal』on myself. I had ignored all the notifications of leveling up or skill level ups I had received to focus on the quest and now I would finally see my progress. I killed over 50 fucking goblins and 2 huge orcs & I helped in woodworks too. My skill proficiency should have gone up by at least to or three levels right?
“『Appraisal』!!”
Species: Forest Sprite Level: 34 Name: Chimon
Status
HP:
MP:
3798/3800
5848/5950
Skills: 「Appraisal LV4」「Wood Manipulation LV6」「Sap Steal LV9」「Nature Manipulation LV3」「Illusion Magic LV4」「Telepathy LV5」「Emotional Damage Nullity」「Pheromones LV(MAX)」「Seduction LV7」 Titles: 「Champion of Elf Goddess」「Thirst for Knowledge」「First Walker」「First Leader of Zapis frectumus」 Tokens: 4570
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My stats had improved enormously. But considering that I must have been at a similar stage before fighting the orcs but was only tired meant that in my perfect state, I would still be lacking to handle an orc at it’s best on my own.
Next I checked my titles.
“『Appraisal』!!”
『First Walker: Special title presented to the fairy king of Zapis frectumus who created the battle squadron, “The Walkers”
Effect: Easier to level up individual and elemental-type skills when training with a companion. Higher MP and HP. Permanent command over all and any squadron on the “Walkers”. 』
『First Leader of Zapis frectumus: Special title presented to the reincarnated soul who was deemed worthy to be owner and first Fairy King of the sacred Zapis grove surrounding the World’s first Zapis Orola. Territory password: (ZAPIS CHIMON fRECTUMUS orola)
Effect: Effect of Nature-type skills increases by 44.4% when present in territory. Absolute loyalty of citizens of Zapis frectumus. 』
The title were self-explanatory and pretty dang awesome nonetheless.The effects were great and loyalty of all fae was another sweet tune to my ears. I guess because I lead the attack against the goblins I was made leader. Coool.
The only thing which caught my attention was the territory password.
“What was that about? Well what if I….(ZAPIS CHIMON fRECTUMUS orola)” I whispered the said password and a blue screen appeared before me.
Territory Status Page
Name: Zapis frectumus Area: 300 sq. m. Territory Tokens: 2000 Terraforming Marbles: 2
View More...
“View more.”
Territory Status Page
Name: Zapis frectumus Area: 300 sq. m. Territory Tokens: 2000 Terraforming Marbles: 2 Residents:
(57)
1. Wooden Sprites (23)
2. Wooden Pixies (8)
3. Wooden Spirits (7)
4. Hamadyrads (19)
So as authority of king I could access the territorial details. I still didn’t know a lot of stuff so I moved inside my house.
I sat on the floor of the empty room and took out the blue marble I had received as a reward earlier. “『Appraisal』” I spoke softly half-expecting nothing to happen and half-expecting it to be the mysterious Terraforming Marble.
Terraforming Marble
Grade: C+ Attribute: Water Owner: None Effect: Allows user to make terraforming changes of water attribute in selected area. Condition: Personalization required. User should be Territory owner.
“Isn’t this perfect for me?? I’m a territory owner and can make a water-related change in my territory using this. But what will I do? Make it rain or something? What even is a water-related change? I really need some book or a supervisor who can tell me stuff.” I thought to myself in frustration.
“How do I personalize this anyway?” And as soon as I muttered those words a drop of my blood squeezed out of the forefinger of my right hand in which the marble was. The blood floated towards the marble and was instantly sucked in. The marble slightly trembled and then stopped as if nothing happened. I used『Appraisal』again.
Terraforming Marble
Grade: C Attribute: Water/Wood Owner: Chimon Effect: Allows user to create special body of water in selected area.
“OOOh!!” I gasped in pleasure as I saw the new stats. I Instantly ran out of my house and down the tree, towards the big pit in the middle of our grove. Although I used roots to travel this time but I really wanted wings like the Pixies.
The Hamadyrads were suddenly awakened and took a defensive stance. After seeing it was me, they morphed back into their tree completely vanishing their presences.
The Walkers on Patrol also looked down but went on flying after confirming my identity.
I reached the large empty pit and opened my palm to reveal a shiny blue ball.
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“Use『Terraforming Marble』!”
The marble floated down in the middle of the pit and dissolved. The place where it dissolved started glowing and making rumbling noises. The fae slowly started coming out in response to the commotion and were shocked to see the pit growing in size and making noises. I retreated to a safe distance and waited for what would happen next.
The hole kept deepening and expanding till it was almost three times it’s original size. The rumbling noises abruptly stopped and were replaced by a subtle swishing sound. A fresh breeze and smell originated from the now sufficiently large pit and water started appearing from nowhere.
It looked as if somebody had opened a tap at the bottom-centre of the hole and the latter was now slowly being filled up by water.
In only a few minutes, the scenery of the entire grove had changed. The trees remained the same but originating for the centre now existed a pond large enough to be mistaken for a lake with outlines stretched so far that they were only about a hundred metres away from the trees.
The water in the pond was unnaturally clean and was littered with groups of large pink lotuses here and there. The surface of the pool had several glowing pollen floating around and the borders of the pond were roughly marked with uneven patches of glowing dandelions.
The scene was mind-numbingly beautiful and mystical at the same time.
All fae were left mesmerised and gaping while I somehow grabbed ahold my senses and moved towards the border of the pond to start using『Appraisal』again.
First came the glowing plants.
Zapis orola Seed Pod
Durability: 10/10 Attribute: Water/Wood Effect: Spores releases by pod have 0.01% chance on taking root to germinate into a Zapis Orola. Unsprouted spores give 0.0001% increased mana recovery. Pods grow when a fully grown Zapis Orola is nearby.
These turned out to be much precious that any normal dandelions. If there was another Zapis orola like mine, our groves’ defense would definitely grow. The durability I saw before was no joke.
I moved onto the lotus buds and staks next.
Species: Zapis acqua Durability: 1000/1000 Effect: Spawns a water sylph every 168 hours. Sylphs born in this area are registered as residents of Zapis frectumus. Mature sylphs take residence underwater and don't communicate unless they deem necessary. High MP. Low HP.
So I would get another kind of fae in our grove. Not bad at all.
Finally I cupped my hands to gather a handful of water. I drank the water and a fresh breeze spread over my body. All my stress and fatigue went away.
“As I thought. This isn’t normal water.『Appraisal』”
Skill points accumulated.『Appraisal LV4』has levelled up to 『Appraisal LV5』.
Zapis acqua grove
Durability: 10000/10000 Effect: Sacred grove for Zapis acqua flowers. Expands and deepens in an unknown pattern in areas of the territory it belongs to.
“....”
“The durability is no joke huh. Well it is water after all. You can’t just destroy water. Ah fuck. Didn’t we find another blue marble just like the one I just used? Was it perhaps another 『Terraforming Marble』? I kept it safely. I’ll use that too and expand this pond. Maybe that’ll give us more Zapis acqua buds and in turn more sylphs I can use! I’ll go get it.” I rushed to my home in my hometree and revealed a small wooden bottle from a hidden place.
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Previously, before the attack of the goblins, I had managed to fill this entire bottle with liquid 『Pheromones』and kept the suspicious marble inside for safekeeping. One sniff of the liquid would drop any common fae on it’s knees.
To my surprise the bottle was empty and only the marble lied at the bottom now of a purple color. It had very weird stats.
Terraforming Marble
Grade: B Attribute: Water/??? Owner: Chimon Effect: ???
“Wasn’t this blue? I didn’t personalize it yet. On top of that it’s special. Why? Did it…. perhaps…… absorb all the liquid『Pheromones』to get a ‘???’ status…”
I had originally stored the marble in the bottle so that even if somebody find it, they will be rendered helpless in front of the liquid. But this was another unexpected dead end. Where would I use this now? What would happen if I used it?
“Plant it at the bottom of your tree with everyone else child.”
I heard a whisper in the back of my mind. I had instantly recognized the voice. Although I didn’t really trust the Elf Goddess a whole lot, I didn’t really have any other options.
In just a short while all the fae were gathered around my tree. I burrowed the marble right near the bark of my tree and saw the marble disappear. To my surprise nothing happened immediately. The fae around me started collapsing one by one and soon I followed as all my MP vanished.