“Tek here, in quite a few animes and manga, I’ve seen quite a few scenes where a mother is mistaken for her daughter, but I had never encountered it on Earth. However, in a fantasy world with species that are virtually, biologically, immortal--it seems that it’s actually rather common.”
“** *---* ** * * ****, Summon--Forest Maiden! Summon Dryad!” Mia’s father sure is fluent when he’s chanting.
His summon calls out a little girl with bare skin and long green hair that appears out from the trunk of a tree. She looks exactly like the Dryad near Trazayuya’s Maze--since she’s level 30, she’s probably a different one.
However, as soon as the Dryad see’s me, she speaks, “Boy! It’s been a while.”
“Are you perhaps the Dryad that I met on the Withered Mountain?”
If she is, she sure leveled up very quickly.
“I guess you could say that, or not like that at all. This body’s Status will change depending on the tree used as the cost, but the insides are the same.”
Is it something like having a single mind, inside a massive network of roots, but each tree is basically the base of a differing avatar? Well that would be interesting.
“Dryad.”
“Wait a minute.”
Mia’s father calls out to the Dryad, but she gives priority to talking to me.
She floats a bit above the ground, wrapping her arms around my neck, clinging to me. She presses her body against me, her face right in front of mine.
“That time was delicious--I want to taste it again.” She leans even closer, her eyes staring at my lips and her cheeks flushing.
“W-Wait, isn’t she too young?!” Arisa asks with wide eyes.
“M-Master?” Lulu looks at me with widened eyes.
“Mwuu.” Mia, who is suddenly hiding behind my back, I hadn’t noticed her move, pokes me.
The Dryad shifts her position, peeking around my shoulder and at Mia, “Oh? Oh, oh, oh? The one back there is baby, right?”
“You’re mistaken.”
“I’m not, you know? It’s about time you pay the compensation, isn’t it, I wonder?” The Dryad releases me and drops to the ground, chasing Mia like a cat who has found a rat--please stop running in circles around me, you two.
Even Mia’s parents begin to question her when they heard the Dryad say ‘compensation’.
“Mia!”
“Wait, Mia! Don’t tell me you asked something from the Dryad? You did, didn’t you? Even though I’ve warned you so many times! I’ve warned you, right? --”
“Mwuu, emergency.”
While Mia’s mother is having a long talk to her daughter, Liza tells the rest of us the story. It seems that Mia had borrowed the Dryad’s power for making a shortcut through the forest during the Muno City incident. Mia’s mother tries to negotiate with the Dryad, but it seems that they’re not able to reach an agreement.
As it is now, the Dryad will suck away Mia’s Magic and Lifeforce, turning her dry--I won’t allow that to happen.
Let’s trying talking first, since burning down the Dryad, and maybe the Bornean Forest, will only be a last resort.
“Dryad, is Magic fine as compensation?”
“Of course it’s alright, I’m only going to drain the Stamina since she doesn’t have enough Magic--if it’s the boy’s Magic, I will gladly take it.”
“I understand. Then you can absorb it.”
As the Dryad comes for my lips, the voices of Mia’s parents stop her.
“Wait.”
“That’s right, Tek, wait. The Dryad is a glutton, she can eat no matter how much, you know? She will absorb, sip sip. Do you want to become a dried thing, even though you’re so young? You don’t, do you--”
Mia thrusts herself between the Dryad and me--it looks like she’s trying to protect me, but looking at her trembling body, she seems to fear that the Dryad’s going to drain her.
While slowly moving from behind Mia, and gently wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me. I ignore the amused, and interested, looks from her parents.
I ask the Dryad a question, “Dryad, can you absorb my Magic in a way other than from the lips?”
The girls look like they don’t want to watch me making out with a 13 year old--though I know the Dryad is much, much, much older…easily ten thousand times that.
My Heads-Up-Display shows: ‘150,000’ years.
“I can, you know? Do you like the obscene way better?” She looks at me with a little smirk and raises and eyebrow.
“Anything other than that?”
She looks a little disappointed for less than a second, before continuing, “Then, how about I drain by kissing above your heart?”
Well, that should be alright.
I take off my coat, and shirt. I can feel the girls looking at me, including Mia, with slightly flushed cheeks--why would they look at me like that now, when I change with them all the time.
Since Mia’s parents are worried, I tell them that I’ve transferred Magic to the Dryad once before, helping them to relax.
“Then, thanks foe the meal.”
Mia’s parents are right to describe her as a Glutton.
My Magic is being drained at an amazing rate, due to me having Magic sensing now, unlike before, I can understand the flow of Magic. Moreover, since I’ve grown accustomed with the operation of Magic, I understand that the Dryad is adjusting the flow of the Magic to eliminate the waste.
In fact, I feel that the efficiency of the Dryad’s absorption has improved, compared to when she started to drain. It seems that the Magic the Dryad drained goes towards the forest, it’s spreading through the roots of all kinds of trees.
However, just how much is she planning on draining?
I feel that she’ll really drain it all if I leave her alone, so I stop her after she’s drained a total of 1,500MP in total.
“Aahn, more.”
I gently flick her nose, “stuff it.”
She looks up at me with puppy eyes, but I look away. All the trees in the surroundings are now in full bloom. Depending on the type of the tree, some of them have their branches bending due to the fruits having ripened. They weren’t there before, that I could see. There are, however, no overgrown weeds, the Dryad did well with her control.
“Well, it’s been quite a long time since I have eaten this much--just say if you want some help in the forest, I’ll save you 2-3 times for free.”
“Thanks for that.”
>>Title: Guest of the Forest Acquired.
>>Title: Lover of the Forest Maiden Acquired.
***
Lulu comes up with a damp towel and rubs my chest clean.
After she finished, Nana wanted to imitate the Dryad, but Lulu stopped her. I would have been fine with it, but Lulu had just finished cleaning me, so I said she could do it later.
It looks like Mia’s, and Mia’s parents, surprised expressions have finally settled after I finished putting my clothing back on.
“The gate.”
“Right, tight, I forgot didn’t I. It’s only a bit, you know? You called me to create the road to the Bornean hometown, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Understood. Forest Road!”
With Mia’s father’s urging, the Dryad uses a special Magic.
A road has opened in the forest, countless firefly-light lights appear from the ground, and the area is dyed a golden colour from there--it’s quite beautiful.
“Now, go, it won’t be open for long.”
“Let’s go.”
We follow the golden road, with Mia’s father guiding us.
>>Skill: Forest Magic Acquired.
It looks like the road is in a subspace, as the map only shows, ‘Area with No Map’.
“You can’t look back, okay, you would become a lost child.”
Please don’t say such a thing from behind. Pochi and Tama catch my hands and look slightly uneasy. It’s like Orpheus’ road to hell, huh?
Later, I learned that looking behind wasn’t exactly a problem--however, you could stray off the path if you did, and then you would get lost in subspace--appearing randomly in the forest, so I could go back and save them if that happened, but not many people had a Map like I did.
Thus we were warned.
When we came out of subspace, we are near the center of the Bornean Forest.
***
“Woow! Tru-ly, a town of Elves!” Arisa yells excitedly.
Usually, I would have stopped her, but this time--I couldn’t.
Houses were made in the interior of gigantic trees spread out in front of our eyes. There’s a fountain, made from some kind of blue crystal in a geometric shape, sitting in the center of the open space. Flying around the fountain were small, palm-sized, Fairies and Pixies.
When she sees the Pixies, Nana begins to walk unsteadily towards the fountain, I quickly exchange looks with Liza and we pin her from both sides.
One of the tree houses can be as big as a 20-story building. Passages made from ivy and leaves are hung between the tree houses, connecting them. Behind the houses, I can see a super-gigantic tree which reaches way up into the clouds.
That’s the World Tree.
The bottom of the tree, which I can see, is a real tree--I feel a strange relief that it’s not an orbital elevator.
Elves are appearing from the tree houses and calling Mia’s name while waving their hands. Mia waves back and calls out their names--the corners of her eyes are slightly moist.
Welcome home, Mia.
