6 years and 4 months old

[H: 16.2m] → [18.2m]

[D: 88cm] → [90cm]

[Lesser Rejuvenation (F)] → [Lesser Rejuvenation (E)]

[Lesser Regeneration (F)] → [Lesser Regeneration (E)]

[Heart of Gold (D)] → [Heart of Gold (C)]

[Bend (F)] → [Bend (E)]

It's been a month since Hinata's... 'Departure' and ever since that day, there have been several humans coming and going. 

For the first week, things were fine as they only brought over mysterious equipment. They would use the equipment for various things, which I've no clue what they did, but by their exaggerated expressions, I could guess that they were more than surprised by what they found.

Ecstatic.

Joyful.

Amazed.

Bewildered.

Positive emotions overwhelmed me, which made me sigh in relief for a moment, and I became a little curious as to what they discovered.

Sadly, I couldn't communicate with them to see exactly what it was they were doing with their tools.

By the second week, they brought more equipment and tents to occupy some of the space within my [Aether Field]. Several figures came before me who seemed a little familiar.

〈 The Dean? But where's Hinata... 〉

He said a few words with the other people standing behind him before leaving again.

The rest of the people who were here 'working' continued with their various tasks. 

Taking samples from the soil, grass, bugs, and even fallen leaves.

In the third week, they moved on to examine my body, taking pieces of bark, twigs, and fresh healthy leaves. 

Again, they were all shocked by what they discovered, and Dean Sakamoto returned shortly after. 

They all simply stood there and stared at me for a while, until the Dean said something and left my [Aether Field].

The fourth week was where I realized that they really weren't good people, as they had brought in several nasty-looking machines with blades and drills.

And as I feared, they started chopping and tearing off small parts of my body.

Chainsaws sliced off lower branches of mine while drills were shoved into my trunk.

Even my roots were dug up from beneath the soil and sliced off. All of this happened while I was conscious, but had little reaction to it at the time.

〈 ??!!! 〉

Just because I was a tree, didn't mean I was any less sensitive than a human.

Each branch and twig felt like my own arms and fingers. Every root was like my own legs and toes.

Imagine how you would feel, having your fingers sliced off, slowly being dismembered while fully aware of everything that's happening?

〈 Stop! It hurts!! 〉

Creaking sounds could be heard coming from my trunk as it very slightly started to twist and contort. But no matter how loud I screamed and pleaded for them to stop, no one could hear me.

[Bend (E)] → [Bend (D)]

New skill acquired.

[Twist (F)]

[Effects: Its easier to twist parts of yourself]

*Peck!*

"Ow?! What the fuck? Who threw that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone threw a stone at my head or something. You didn't see who did that?"

"What? Just hurry and get back to work"

*Peck! Peck!*

"Ouch! Hey! Who's the idiot throwing stones around?!"

"See! I told you someone threw one at me earlier"

"No one threw anything, boss"

*Peck!!*

"Fuck! It's coming from this stupid tree!!"

"Wait... those aren't stones, those are beetles?"

"Beetles? Then hurry up and get some insecticide or something!"

Obviously, it was I who had been throwing beetles at them. This was all I could think of right now to try and get them to stop, which actually worked as they all left their machines on the ground as they quickly ran to take cover under their tents.

[Beetle Barrage (D)] → [Beetle Barrage (C)]

New skill acquired.

[Pain Tolerance (F)]

[Effects: Increases the threshold for the amount of pain you can endure]

〈 *Pant. Pant* Sigh... Great, it worked... 〉

I managed to calm myself down and take a breather but was soon shocked to see several humans geared in a sort of hazmat suit. On their backs was a large cylindrical container with a tube connected to it, leading to a sprayer that was held within their hands.

〈 That... doesn't look good at all 〉

When they stepped into range of my [Beetle Barrage] I immediately started to bombard the 3 who got closer and closer to me. Although my attacks seemed to work, it was still bearable for the three because of their hazmat suits.

And as soon as they were in range, they immediately started to spray whatever liquid was inside of the tanks on their backs.

Very quickly, the beetles sitting on my branches and leaves started dying off and falling onto the ground below.

This made me panic a lot, as they were currently my only form of defense. I never thought that having these leaf-eating beetles was a good thing, but now, that thought disappeared and all I wanted was to keep them safe.

〈 My beetle empire... 〉

Perhaps, the Beetle Queen could feel my rising despair and connected with me, sharing her own despair as she watched her children die before her.

New skill acquired.

[Lesser Telepathy (F)]

[Effects: You can communicate via the minds of lesser beings]

'Click click click!!!'

A pain-filled cry entered my mind which I subconsciously knew the owner to be the Beetle Queen. 

〈 Beetle Queen? Can you hear me?! 〉

'Click? Click click click???'

〈 Yes, I'm the tree you are residing within. I'm sorry we've not had any good interactions, but I'm willing to put that in the past 〉

'Click click!'

〈 I know, and I'm sorry. I want to help you and your children. Please, we don't have time to argue! 〉

'. . .'

〈 I'll try to create enough space for your children to enter my branches. That should keep you and your children safe from the humans poisonous gas 〉

'Click?'

〈 I think it'll work... but we can only try! 〉

'Click... click click'

〈 Thank you, Beetle Queen! I won't betray your trust! 〉

 

---

 

"Hahaha! That'll teach you not to mess with us, pathetic tree"

 By the time the 3 had finished spraying down my entire body, I had already helped the beetles to take refuge within my bark and branches.

Surprisingly, it actually worked, which elated the Beetle Queen as she swore to take revenge on the humans, as well as return the kindness I had given her.

〈 But... how do I defend myself... 〉

Anger.

Annoyance.

Disgust.

The humans were returning to their positions with machines in hand and nasty smiles on their faces, either kicking me or spitting on me for the small inconvenience they went through.

〈 Argh! 〉

They resumed their previous actions but now they were even more violent with me. 

This continued for several minutes which felt like hours to me until I figured a way that might help me.

[Aetherium Heart (S)]

[Allocated Skills: Hibernate (1/1)]

[Assigned Targets: Human (1/1)]¹Ueki Togai
Mizutani Yasuhiko
Hashimoto Shozaburo
Yanagisawa Norishige
Terauchi Teika
Kudo Kuri
Hino Jakuchu
Okane Shoichi
Arata Kenko
Demura Tsuginori
Kawada Tsugiharu
Togoshi Yukio
Hiroshima Kanezane
Chinen Masami
Narita Etsuya
Ban Keizo
Hatsu Taro
Koga Kaemon
Kanemoto Takuboku
Matsutoya Kazushige

"*Yawn* Why... am I suddenly... so tired...?"

"I'm... also getting tired... did someone... put something... in our drinks...?"

"Fuck... it's... this damn... tree!"

"Everyone...! Get... out... of..."

*Thud* x20

All around me, within my [Aether Field], the humans collapsed and fell into a very deep sleep.

〈 It... It worked! Beetle Queen, it worked!! Hahahaha, I'm a genius! 〉

'Click click' (Ant Queen)

〈 Ant Queen, you're here as well? 〉

'Click' (Ant Queen)

'Click~' (Beetle Queen)

'Click click!' (Ant Queen)

I started to ignore the two's heated arguments and returned my focus to the sleeping humans around me with complicated emotions. 

For now, I decided to just keep them asleep. I also didn't want them to die, so I had to find a way to help them.

 

---

 

2 weeks later.

[Lesser Rejuvenation (E)] → [Lesser Rejuvenation (D)]

[Lesser Regeneration (E)] → [Lesser Regeneration (D)]

New skill acquired.

[Invasive Root (F)]

[Effects: Latches onto and provides nutrients to sustain life]

Finally, after 2 weeks of constantly trying to supply a little bit of my energy to the humans, I managed to gain a skill that made it significantly easier. 

Though, by now, many of them had died from starvation... I was very sad about it, and even though they didn't seem like good people, they were still people after all. 

There was nothing I could do about it now though, except for supplying their corpses with some nutrients to stop their corpse from rotting.

The still, barely alive humans who looked like corpses themselves by the skeletal figure they had, was luckily saved in time as I provided them energy through my [Invasive Roots].

 

---

 

Another week passed and acquired a lot of new skills. Fortunate or not, there were also no signs of more people coming.

[H: 18.2m] → [18.9m]

[Lesser Rejuvenation (D)] → [Lesser Rejuvenation (C)]

[Lesser Regeneration (D)] → [Lesser Regeneration (C)]

[Invasive Roots (F)] → [Invasive Roots (E)]

[Hibernation (E)] → [Hibernation (D)]

New skills acquired.

[Lesser Vitality (F)]

[Effects: You can rapidly regain vitality through burning Aether]

[Hollow Branch (F)]

[Effects: Main branches are slightly hollowed out]

[Beetle Queens Domain (F)]

[Effects: A small section within your upper trunk is hollowed out]

[Preservation Pod (F)]

[Effects: Beetles and Ants can burrow into your body to enter a hibernation state. Aether is then provided to occupied pods, sustaining them indefinitely]

[Hollow Root (F)]

[Effects: Main roots are slightly hollowed out]

[Ant Queens Domain (F)]

[Effects: A small section within your lower trunk is hollowed out]

When I started giving Beetle Queen 'special privileges' Ant Queen started raising a fit and demanded she also gets similar treatment. So I agreed to Ant Queen and tried the best I could. Which resulted in the latter part of the new skills.

And even though I had told Beetle Queen that the humans were currently sleeping, she decided not to get her revenge as attacking sleeping enemies was some kind of offense to her... Strange bug rules, I guess.

She also decided to have her children sleep inside the [Preservation Pod] for several reasons. 

The first of which touched me, as she knew that a lot of my branches had been chopped off, so she wanted to give me some time to recover. 

The second reason was she didn't want the humans to kill more of her children if they were to find that there were still survivors. 

There was also the possibility of them stripping my bark entirely, or smoking the insides of my trunk and branches.

I also thought that it was a wiser decision to keep the beetle empire hibernating inside my [Preservation Pods], so I left her to produce more offspring inside her domain. 

The Ant Queen and her children weren't in as much of a dire situation as the Beetle Queen was, so for now she left her children to expand their hive beneath my roots. 

And it was after listening to them for a while that I understood that bugs were also quite intelligent. At least, the Queens were.

Everything seemed to calm down and was fine for the next few days until finally, more humans came. 

 

---

 

"What the hell happened here?!" 

"Oh. My God!! The roots! They're covered in roots!"

"Fuck! Is this a man-eating tree?!"

"Quickly, help get rid of those roots and see if they're still alive!"

Funnily enough, the panicked and furious humans who stormed into my [Aether Field] in order to help their fellow humans, slowly became extremely sleepy. And by the time they realized something was wrong, they were already falling to the ground and entering a deep sleep.

Those who were quick-witted enough managed to escape my influence and were busily rubbing their eyes outside of my field and vision.

〈 More humans? Should I lift my [Hibernation] skill? 〉

I pondered whether I should or not and ultimately decided to do so. 

As my skill was lifted, the people who had only recently fallen asleep were the ones to first wake up, and when they did, the others outside slowly made their way inside to make sure everything was fine. 

"This fucking tree..."

Rage.

Disgust.

Confused.

"Calm down! First, we need to save everyone here"

Reluctance.

Impatience.

"Fine. Let's get everyone out of here first. But I'm telling you now if anything bad has happened to my sister, I will burn that fucking tree to ashes"

Hatred. 

Anxious.

〈 Ugh... why are they mad at me? I helped keep them alive... 〉

 

---

 

I watched as the people who were on life support from my roots were being taken away in stretchers, swiftly leaving my [Aether Field].

3 hours later, a squad of heavily armed soldiers rushed into my [Aether Field] and surrounded me on all sides. This completely baffled me, and I was too slow to react before their encirclement was already solid, with tens of guns aiming right at me. Half of which were larger and holding a canister, or fuel tank of some kind. I could guess what they were by the sparks of flame coming out of the end of the barrel.

A deadly silence ensued for exactly 5 seconds with both sides on standby. I was still trying to process what was going on.

From my point of view, even though I had put those people to sleep and some of them even died because of it, I used everything I could to keep the others alive and healthy. Yet here I was, surrounded by armed soldiers aiming their rifles and flamethrowers at me.

"Stand down"

The soldiers who were previously aiming their weapons at me uniformly put them away to their sides, but were still on guard against me, despite myself being an immobile, harmless-looking tree.

Dean Sakamoto. 

I already assumed him to be the leader of everything that's been happening to me, but when I remembered who brought him to me... I don't want to think about it, perhaps it's my misunderstanding.

It seemed as though he was talking to me, but I still couldn't understand a thing he was saying. He sighed and then turned around to leave. 

Moments later, he returned with someone I was more than familiar with.

"H-hello Hanako"

Nervous.

Apologetic.

Depressed.

Guilt.

〈 . . . 〉

Awkward.

Doubt.

"Hanako?"

〈 . . . 〉

Nervous.

Guilt.

Anger.

"Hanako!"

〈 WHAT!! 〉

I really didn't know how to feel right now. Other emotions were affecting my own, clashing together and confusing me. 

The moment I had shouted back at her, she retracted her hand in fright and stumbled backward until falling onto her butt.

The soldiers surrounding me were tense and some even gripping their weapons tighter, but as per orders, they still kept their weapons 'sheaved'.

Hinata took a moment to dust herself from the small specks of dirt and placed her hand on my trunk again, though shaking a little.

"H-Hanako, Dean Sakamoto wants to know whether or not you killed those men from earlier"

Fear.

Doubt.

Suspicious.

〈 Are you... Seriously doubting me? Hinata? 〉

I was sad... I truly was. My heart, even with all these emotions, was slowly breaking down.

"N-no! I-I mean... He just wants to know, so he doesn't have to hurt y-"

〈 Look at me! He's already hurt me enough, can't you see that? 〉

". . ."

〈 Why? 〉

"What?"

〈 Why did you do this? 〉

"I just wanted to keep you safe. I have to tell the authorities about you since it's illegal to..."

Deceit.

Greed.

Fear.

Doubt.

〈 Enough! I don't want to hear it. No, I didn't kill those humans... I even tried saving them 〉

"O-oh, okay... Sakamoto-sama also wants to apologize to you, and he wants to come to an agreement"

〈 . . . 〉

Awkward.

"Uhm, he said, if you're willing to cooperate with us, then he can provide you with a better environment to grow. He promises that he won't hurt you, but some things might be a bit of an annoyance. He said if you don't agree, he'll resort to more... extreme methods to get your cooperation"

〈I thought I could trust you Hinata... You know. You were my first and only friend. Fine, I'll agree to cooperate with you people〉

"I uhm... Sorry Hanako, I really do want what's best for you. Just know that you can help many others as well"

〈 Shut up! Just go and get Sakamoto already 〉

Hinata quickly left and returned with Sakamoto and another person.

"Hanako, this is Yuuki-kun. He has a gift that will allow us to form contracts with... special creatures like you. All you have to do is accept it okay?"

〈 Okay... 〉

Yuuki, a teenager the same age as Hinata, placed his hand on my trunk and a few seconds later I received a notice.

[The Challenger Nagashima Yuuki has created a contract. Do you wish to sign it?]

[Yes/No] → [Yes]

[You have signed the contract with the Challenger Nagashima Yuuki]

The process was rather simple and quick as nothing flashy or mystical happened. Yuuki retrieved his hand from my trunk and turned to say a couple of things to Sakamoto.

Very quickly, more people came to pack up the equipment and machines lying around, until everything returned to how it was before all this.

Hinata and Sakamoto stood before me without saying anything, and everything Hinata tried to say just passed through me as I no longer felt like listening to her. 

I blocked her, and everything out of my senses and curled up into a ball inside my cold pink and blue heart.

 

---

 

[Name: Alter Calliope]

[Titles: Reincarnator (A)]

[Race: Aether Tree (EX)]

[Stage: Big Tree]

[Height: 19m]

[Diameter: 90cm]

[Skills: Wriggle (A) Beetle Barrage (C) Lesser Rejuvenation (C) Lesser Regeneration (C) Heart of Gold (D) Beetle carrier (D) Fertile soil (D) Bend (D) Ant carrier (E) Lesser Charm (E) Invasive Roots (E) Twist (F) Lesser Vitality (F) Pain Tolerance (F) Lesser Telepathy (F) Hollow Root (F) Hollow Branch (F) Beetle Queens Domain (F) Ant Queens Domain (F) Preservation Pod (F)]

[Racial skills: Aetherium Heart (S) Aether Field (A) Aether Circuit (A) Clear mind (A) Growth (C) Photosynthesis (C) Hibernate (D)]