"I'm Targua, from Honest Shield," the short and stocky man says and we shake hands.

"I'm Hadrian."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hadrian." Targua sits down and nods respectfully.

"Likewise." I return the nod.

"So, on to business. The request said that you require escort towards the Sea of Trees."

"Precisely. I want to go as far as I can for three days."

He takes a moment to think. "Any particular reason you want to go there?"

"I'm a researcher. I have something to do out there."

His droopy eyes twitch in annoyance. "Is whatever you are going to do there going to attract monsters?"

"No monsters, but possibly dryads."

His eyebrows shoot up and his mouth hangs open.

I smile and feel my tail twitch. I regain control of myself and stare him in the eye. "Are you married, Mr. Targua?"

"Yes…" He answers nervously.

"Perhaps it's best that you don't meet the dryads. But any of your colleagues that want to join would be welcome to." I give him my best business smile.

"Hmm, indeed…" I can feel the frustration in his tone.

"Now, let's negotiate the price."

 

"I can get ready in two days," Targua says.

"Fine by me. We shall meet at the western gate on the next day of Fis. We leave at 7 of the morning."

Targua nods and we shake hands.

He leaves the meeting room and I'm left with my thoughts.

I'm finally doing it. Mother, your legacy won't die with me.

I stretch and release my black tail.

Horrible thing to negotiate when you have an appendage that responds to your emotions.

I scratch my furry ear with a claw and my right leg trembles with the stimulation.

We should be able to get pretty far into the Sea in three days. It will coincide with being the day of Nev and the Moon being blue. The omens couldn't be any better.

I leave the hunter's guild and make my way out of Rabanara.

 

I walk through the mossy alleys and run a claw along the wall. The moss gathers on it and I sniff my hand, smelling the musky scent of nature.

A small blue ball of feathers lands on my shoulder.

"Good day, Tuk-Tuk," I greet the bird nature spirit.

"Peep," she chirps a casual greeting.

"I'm leaving next Fis. You want to come?"

"Peep," she accepts my proposal.

"You sure? I'll stay three days away from the town."

"Peep!"

"I appreciate your enthusiasm." I smile at her and scratch under her chin. Her feathers ruffle and she chirps softly in delight. "Will you help me with the forest's guardian?"

"Peep!" Nope!

"I appreciate your concern over me." I smile wryly.

"Peep!" You are welcome.

Freeloaders. Is there any nature spirit that isn't like this? Maybe the ones in the forest aren't.

 

I reach the western gate and pass through customs. I take the road north that runs along the wall. The golden hairs look as beautiful and calming as ever.

A small sight that I'll miss.

I leave the brick road and walk on the slightly wet grass and dirt. It feels amazing on my paws.

I take a few turns and greet a few of the familiar farmers moving about.

I see a group of children hunting Dragolites by using a five-year-old child as bait. The bait-boy's blade looks like it has crusted blood on it. This boy is experienced in hunting.

 

I finally reach the Blood-red Wine Ranch. I greet the farmhands and move on, then I [Clean] my paws before getting inside.

Sebastian already has the bath prepared for me so I go upstairs to enjoy it. As I sink on the bath, I hear the hurried footsteps of high-heeled boots coming upstairs.

The door opens and Madame Rafaela enters. She's in her less elegant clothes, made for the hard work of the farm.

She takes off her clothes and hurriedly applies [Clean] on her body as she scrubs herself with soap. After a quick wash, she ties up her brown hair and joins me in the bath.

I receive her curvy body as she sinks. I wrap my arms around her and rest my head on her shoulder. Her hair still smells of her deep perfume, so I breathe in and enjoy it while I can.

"So…? How did it go?" She breaks the silence with an excited question.

"I'm leaving next Fis," I say without much enthusiasm.

Her bright smile stays strong, but the dimples on her face tremble. "That's amazing! You are finally going to do it!"

"Yes, I will…"

She turns around and pouts, her luscious lips look very appetizing. "You don't look very excited."

"Well, I'm leaving soon, hard to be excited when I think about it."

"You talk as if you are not coming back. You are coming back, aren't you?" Her cute face distorts in worry.

"I will come back, I just don't know when…"

"Well, just make sure you do!" She flickers my nose and I twitch my whiskers. "I want my cute kitty cat back for petting, you know how I'm like when I can't pet you," she says in a cutesy voice.

"Mrow, I'll come back." I purr and fill her neck with kisses.

 

The next day I only do a few things: inspect the crops, apply [Growth] on them, check on the livestock, talk to them with [Animal Tongue], and give as much love as I can to Rafaela.

On the fated day of Fis, she wakes up early along with me. She brushes my tail just the way I like while I brush the fur in my leg.

She helps me put on my armor and hugs me from behind while I look at myself in the mirror. My short black hair and the fur of my pointy cat ears look silky and perfectly cared for, not that the dryads would care. My black tail undulates behind me and Rafaela grabs it for one last petting. My whiskers look strong and straight; I can't grow a beard so I take good care of them. My pale skin looks glossy; Rafaela's skin oils are something that I will miss a lot. My black cat legs are properly brushed and protected by my armor and boots. My paw/hands are protected by thin leather; being a werecat with paw/hands is annoying sometimes. If my gloves were any bigger, I wouldn't be able to move my fingers properly.

"You look very handsome," the mature woman says.

"I know." I turn my head around and rub my whiskers on her face, making her giggle.

Her happiness quickly fades and she lets out a sigh.

"I love you, Hadrian," she says as she looks into my eyes.

I return the stare and drown in her hazel eyes. "I love you too, Rafaela." She smiles bitterly, not fully believing my words. "For you, I will come back."

"Don't give too much hope to my old heart." She cups my cheek lovingly.

"I'm sorry."

To her, that's all I can say, for now.

 

I make my way to the meeting point and see the group of five men sitting around in a circle, watching the caravans move out of town. Three shields, one archer, one archer mage. A front-line-heavy fellowship, good for just about anything in the Sea.

"Hadrian!" Targua notices me and waves. I send a wave back and the men line up to greet me.

"Greetings, men. I am Hadrian," I say as I approach.

"Saito," says a tall dragonkin with very short blue hair. The main shield user.

"Tauragh," says a lanky man with bushy and unkempt brown hair. The support shield user, like Targua.

"Wensah," says another lanky man that looks very similar to Tauragh. "I'm Tauragh's brother," he adds with a knowing smile. He's the main archer.

"Reagarian," says a black man with white curly wool sticking out from under his clothes. He has two large round horns on his forehead. He's a ram-type demon race and the archer/mage.

I nod to each of them as they introduce themselves.

"You know how to fight?" Saito asks with a grunt.

"Some, I can handle myself," I answer calmly.

"Where's your weapon?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

"I use [Vine Weapon], you will see it when the time comes."

"Stick close to Reag," Targua says. I answer with a nod.

With a pop, Tuk-Tuk appears on my shoulder.

"Oh, you have a little helper," Reag says with a small smile.

"More like a freeloader." I smile wryly.

"Peep!" Tuk-Tuk chirps proudly.

"Oh…" Reag's shoulders slump in disappointment.

"Let's go," I say and we move south-west, towards the Sea.

 

I love the scent of the moss, plants, flowers, and mushroom spores. I feel free and at home in the Sea. I almost feel like taking off my boots, so that I can feel the mushy dirt and the few blades of grass.

I take some Eia out and let the paste slowly melt on my tongue. Soon, my hearing improves, my eyes gain a new focus, my muscles move as if I weigh a feather, and my mind starts to process all the information of the world around us. Every chirp, every rustle, every crushed leaf and bent blade of grass, everything feels "in its place." I'm no longer moving by taking steps through the earth, I am now moving "through" the Sea of Trees.

My mana overflows as I attune myself to the world. I casually cast [Grow] wherever I step, turning the Sea just a bit more fantastic just by "belonging" to it.

Suddenly, Targua makes us stop while Tauragh and Wensah move on ahead, seemingly following the tracks of something.

They come back soon, their smiles show happiness, their eyes show greed.

"Those are the tracks of a Ghostly Fawn, no doubt about it," Tauragh says.

"Great, we will hunt it on the way," Targua says.

"No, you will not," I state categorically.

Targua raises an eyebrow and Saito rolls his eyes.

"You don't want us to kill an animal, right?" Saito asks.

"Precisely."

The blue scaled dragonkin turns around and grumbles.

"That Fawn is valuable and we are prepared for it," Targua says, his droopy eyes evaluate my expression with curiosity.

There shouldn't be any signs of Eia on my face, I hope.

"If you want to meet the dryads then you will not hunt it," I say.

Saito shrugs and laughs. "Fine by me."

The brothers look at each other nervously and grin. Reag wets his lips. Targua sighs and turns to the brothers. "Fine, let's avoid it," he says.

Men.

Peep.

The monsters are killed, the animals are avoided. We continue our journey following this rule.

 

Tuk-Tuk brings a small branch with a berry in it. I use the overflow of my mana to cast [Grow] on the berry, which causes it to grow but also dries up the branch completely.

Tuk gulps the berry that's half her size and bloats, becoming nearly completely spherical.

Reag watches us with curiosity. "You got the Pixie's Touch, cat?"

"I don't think that skill is inheritable, sheep. My mother was an elf, I'm just very good with [Nature Magic]."

"So, you're a druid."

"Please, I'm not a tree-fucker. I'm just a Nature mage who's slightly eccentric." I let out a small chuckle.

"We are going to fuck dryads, I think that's exactly what 'tree-fucking' is."

"We aren't going to literally fuck a tree. Dryads live in trees, they are not the trees themselves."

He shrugs "If you say so, Boss, but our dicks are still going to be covered in tree moss."

Correcting his understanding of Dryad biology is not worth the effort.

 

We continue on our journey forth, occasionally stopping to quickly strip a hunted monster of their most useful parts so that we can cook them later.

We make our way annoyingly slow through the forest. The lack of [Swift Foot] makes me wish I had paid for a priest to bless us.

The men don't talk, making the journey rather boring. We lack a dedicated scout, so we all have to stay quiet and pay attention for an ambush.

When we do meet a monster, the fellowship works together like a temple's clock. I can only stand awkwardly near Reag with my vine spear at the ready and wait for the attack that never comes.

"You seem eager to fight," the ram-type says.

"I'm mostly tense, but a little, yeah," I answer.

"Can't have the boss get hurt when our job is to escort you," Saito says.

"Well, the job is to escort me and not to prevent me from getting harmed." I grin and Saito grins back.

"Don't complain when you get your tail in a knot, then."

 

After that, I participate a little more. I stand to the side with my spear and get a cheap shot when the opportunity arises, but I mostly throw it a lot, then I turn the spear back into flexible vines and recall them back to me so I can throw it again.

 

The first day ends fine, just goblins and orcs. My towel bath and small tent make me miss not having Water and Space mage servants. At least I'm not forced to take the watch.

During breakfast, I discreetly eat a small piece of Eia to aid with my senses.

As the men stretch and prepare to move. I notice an odd root jutting out of the ground. The way it "flows" out of the tree is different than the others. The roots seem to delicately spin and wave as they move away from the tree, but this one is different, its turns are sharp and it seems to be… "lost."

I approach the tree and touch it with my forehead. I close my eyes and use all of my [Sense Mana] to look deep inside the root.

I see a line. It's the life that the root feeds the tree.

I slow my breathing until its barely perceptible. I sync it with the chaotic breeze and let nature control it.

I chant a simple [Grow] and open a way to the heartwood. Then I shape it so it prickles my skin and draws blood. The blood flows into the channels that I create and is slowly absorbed by the heartwood.

The line of life shifts and a small red line connects to the main "white" one. The red spreads and invades the main line at increasing speed.

I hold back the invasion on the left side and send all my blood to the right side, the side of the root.

I don't go far before I see the line turn turbulent like the rapids of a river. I painfully crash on rocks, but that makes me smile.

Found you.

"Peep," Tuk agrees.

I retreat from the rapids and then use all my power to invade as fast as I can. I scrape on the walls and take pieces of dirt with me, and I crash on the rocks in the way and shatter them, also taking the pieces with me.

I clean the life-line of the tree and take all the dirt up to the end, where they all lump up into a ball of dirt and stone.

With a grunt of pain, I remove myself from the tree and cast [Regeneration] on my bleeding forehead until no scar remains. Then I follow the root to where it enters the ground and cast an inverted [Earth Wall].

The dirt is compacted and a hole opens. Down there, I see the swollen piece of the root where I lumped all the dirt.

I cast [Vine Weapon] and create a small serrated knife that I use to cut off the swollen white root.

"Well, damn, you are just like a druid," Reag says from behind me.

"Just missing the smoking pipe," Wensah says, beside Reag.

I suppress a sigh.

They are going to make fun of me when I call the dryads.

"You guys had a lot of contact with druids, huh?" I raise an eyebrow at them.

"Them naked weirdos are all over the Sea. You are bound to see a few if you hunt here long enough." Wensah chuckles and turns around.

Naked? Interesting, but also barbaric…

"You are going to use that, right?" Reag asks and points to the root in my hand.

Rockwood Warts are perfect for my Eia concoction.

"Not right now, but yes."

Reag clicks his tongue and shrugs.

"Peep," Tuk chirps with contentment. She lands on my hand and pecks the root, taking out a small hair from it.

"I really need to use it for later, sorry." I smile wryly.

"Peep…" She chirps sadly.

 

The Eia pills improve my senses even further, but my body is starting to feel "foreign."

"There's a monster in that direction," I say and point.

"Oh? Explain," Targua stops and looks at me with skepticism.

"I can smell it."

Reag and Saito smell the air and shrug at Targua.

"The longer I stay in the Sea, the better my senses become," I try to explain.

"Great… work with Tauragh and Wensah, then." Targua still looks skeptical but he's willing to give me a chance.

 

With the aid of the two trackers, we avoid most monsters.

 

On the third day things start to become dangerous. The number of poisonous plants and mushrooms increases suddenly and the men start to become affected by illusions. Then the compass suddenly stops working, making the men even more twitchy.

"I think we already came this way," Saito says, his blue scales wave nervously.

"No, we didn't," I say.

"No, we didn't," Wensah repeats.

"No, we didn't," Tauragh piles on.

"Kay," Saito grunts and swallows heavily.

 

A heavy mist suddenly falls upon us and Targua barks orders, "Grab a hand and start role call! If you complain about gayness, then I will stab your arse with my spear!" He nearly reverts to the farmer's accent of the Shore of Leaves.

Targua pulls out some rope and we all tie our arms to it.

I eat another bite of Eia, then I open a wound in the palm of my hand and let my blood drip as we walk. I close my eyes and try to find my mana escaping from my spilled blood. The little particles of mana try to find my body again and spread all over. While most of them are slowly attracted to me, the ones that aren't allow me to get a clear view of the area.

"I smell blood," Saito says.

"Sorry, that's me, trying out some magic," I say loudly so everyone can hear.

"[Blood Magic]?" Targua asks, very concerned.

"Not that, elven magic."

"Right…"

"Anyway, the trees are moving, they want to herd us away from our destination," I say and guide the line in between a mangled mess of roots.

"W-what?" Saito chuckles in disbelief.

"I always thought the trees looked different every time we came here," Tauragh comments.

"Well, shit," Saito comes to a realization and looks at the trees in a new way.

We move slowly and with care because the path now has many more roots and trees in our way.

 

Suddenly, the mist disappears and we six freeze on the spot, awkwardly holding each other's hands.

"Your hand is very soft, Boss," Reag says.

"Thanks," I answer and give his hand a squeeze.

"Careful with that one, he likes to duel other men with his rapier," Saito grunts.

"Spear! Rapier sounds small!" Reag protests.

"Because it is," Saito grunts again.

"Guys, we can stop holding hands now," Targua says and we finally let each other go, then we untie ourselves from the rope.

The spot we are in is rather odd. We are in a circular area completely free of roots while the trees are like pillars around us, organized in a perfectly periodic pattern.

"It's like we are in an arena," Tauragh comments as he inspects the odd pattern in the roots.

I look back and see the roots cover our exit.

"Because we are," I say and conjure my vine spear, the others immediately grab their weapons.

"Reag, burn an exit for us; Saito, freeze anything that moves," Targua orders us.

"I advise against that," I say.

"Meaning?" Targua turns to me, looking very annoyed.

"Let me smoke some Eia and I can calm the monsters down."

"Fucking hell, next you are going to strip naked and masturbate in the open," Wensah mockingly says.

"Wow…" I mutter, a little taken aback. "I can see how that could help, but no, that is not necessary."

The druids around here are just so barbaric.

I cut my other palm, deeper this time, and swing my arms at the roots, painting them with my blood.

"Gods guide me!" Targua exclaims. "Don't tell me you are a bloody heretic?!"

"What…?" I stop to look at Targua in complete disbelief. "This is [Weaverism]! Elven magic!"

"Why do you have to spread your blood around like an undead trying to corrupt the land?!"

Well… the principle is similar but the execution is completely different.

"Do I fucking smell like an undead?! No! I'm throwing my blood around so I can connect myself with the nature around us!" I turn back and create a circle with my blood.

Once I'm done, I sit down in the middle, take out a large bite of Eia mixed with the crushed Rockwood Wart and a smoking pipe. Then I light the pipe with the Eia and start meditating.

"Don't pass out on me, now," Tauragh jokes.

"Just need concentration to connect with nature."

"Bloody druids…" Targua mutters and orders them to make a circle around me.

 

The lines are now a web, all interconnected. I invade them all so I can see further. I feed it my mana to appease it and it drinks it all like a child sucking on their mother's breast.

"Holy shit, how much MP do you have?" I hear Reag ask.

"A lot."

Not going to help me, Tuk?

Peep!

Freeloader…

Peep!

The web moves slowly, thickening the wall of "white" around us. My invasion spreads deep enough that I see multiple balls of "yarn" quickly approaching. I invade them too and feed them my mana. They stop and squirm in delight, making dirty noises while bleeding me dry.

The web loosens and allows me to control it, but I don't, it would be impolite. I retreat my invasion and the balls of "yarn" sigh in disappointment, then they continue moving towards us, now at a more calmer pace.

With the last of my mana, I cast [Regeneration] on myself to close my wounds and recover my lost blood.

Less than a minute later, we hear the creaking of wood. With unbelievable speed, the roots disentangle and make way for multiple dryads to come in. Naked human-looking beings with skins all colors of the rainbow and the texture of moss, wood, or grass. Their hairs are all kinds and shapes of grass or leaves. Their toned bodies are borderline impossible for normal humanoids and their sexes are grossly oversexualized.

They all surround us and stay near the roots, while a single male dryad comes closer. He has short black grass as hair that curls in a spiral. His face is chiseled and handsome, with a smirk that would make Rafaela blush. His skin is light green and seems rough like moss. His body is more defined than a high-"Strength" dragonkin.

"I am Pallido, guardian of this forest. Your gift has been accepted with delight. Now, what do you wish of us?"

"A cultural exchange," I calmly say with a respectful bow.

Pallido smiles and his horse penis immediately stands erect.

Saito pulls out his own huge penis and looks around. "Finally. Now, who's first?"