Esmel was unlike any city Max had ever seen. There was no brick and mortar, no concrete, or even glass, the city instead was woven into tree trunks and roots. Hollow trees served as the primary source of housing. Buildings were constructed using roots and woven branches. Everything looked natural, there were no artificial colors or materials. Greens and browns dominated the color scheme, but flowers brought a splatter of blues, yellows, and reds. The lush foliage and overbrush reminded Max of videos and movies he had seen of jungle cities.

It’s humid. Max complained to Emi, who was restraining herself from chasing butterflies.

Max subtly tested drawing water from the air. He was slightly amazed at how much easier it was to gather water than back in Lesterwood.

“Enough of that.” Vel nudged after noticing what Max was doing. “Too many eyes.”

Max reached out with his senses. Hidden Elf over there, flying familiar in that tree… Max could only shake his head at the level of hospitality they were being shown. The group had found an inn called Garden of Globes. They chose this particular inn because it had a large shed where they could store the speeder.

The building itself was up a spiraling staircase that went along the outer bark of a tree. Most, if not all, of the trees around were massive. Easily passing any that Max had seen on Earth. The Garden of Globes entrance was about a fourth of the way up. A simple door made of woven twigs opened into a hollowed section of the host tree.

The interior was decorated very Elven, nature was the prevalent theme. Every amenity was made of wood or wood composite. On each and every available surface was this worlds equivalent to snow globes. There were hundreds if not thousands of glass spheres, each with a small depiction inside.

Normally you would shake a snow globe and confetti, or fake snow would cascade down the small diagram held within. However, these globes were the magical kind. Each globe held a different scene. The one Max looked at first, was of a human man fishing in a small rowboat on a small lake. The man and his boat bobbed along with the gentle waves. Every now and then his rod would tilt, signifying a fish one the line.

It's like a little magical GIF! Max was amazed. Some globes had a milder subject matter than others. For example, there was a globe depicting a brutal battle between two Orcs. The battle ended with one Orc being decapitated.

A relatively short Elf with autumn hair greeted Bishop and Reep as they were the only ones not mesmerized by the globes.

“We would like a couple rooms. Three, I think? Max and I can share, you and Clammy could also, and best to have Vel alone. She snores.”

“That's fine.” Reep said back.

“If you don’t mind me asking, but how long is your part going to be staying?” The hostess asked.

“Not sure… A few weeks I would think. Why? Are you expecting an influx of customers?” Bishop answered, while gesturing to the empty common room.

“Oh no. Nothing like that. It’s just that… well you know…” She leaned in and spoke in a quiet voice, “There might be terrorists around…”

“Terrorists? We just arrived today!” Bishop went silent for a moment, “How do you know?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be a gossip… But there have been rumors... Something is happening, and terrorists is the word that keeps being used.”

“What's been happening? Sounds scary...”

Bishop is a scary actor... Reep thought.

“You didn’t hear it from me, but….”

The woman proceeded to tell Bishop and Reep about the most recent city rumors.

Clammy elbowed Max, making him jump a little. He was enthralled with a globe depicting a flying whale. Clammy nodded towards Vel. The small old woman held a globe with a death grip. She stared intently into the scene that was playing. She looked sad.

Max and Clammy made their way over to her, worried.

“Vel, are you okay?” Max asked.

“It's him.” She said, still looking into the globe.

Max slowly reached out and removed the globes from her hands. He held it at an angle that both Clammy and he could see what it depicted. A blonde-haired man wearing loose robes stood atop a frighteningly large Light Owl. Max recognized who it was from the context clues but continued to watch anyway. Lester’s robes were more similar to Earthen style robes than Nava, but the typical enchanted shimmer remained. Lester looked average. Not too tall, not too short. He had an untrimmed beard, but otherwise looked tidy. The “camera angle” within the globe changed, signifying the start of the “clip”.

Lester rode Icarus high in the sky. He flew towards a great dark cloud, unimpeded by the harsh winds in his way. The globe skipped ahead in time. Lester and Icarus were now on the ground. Lester was yelling and pointing at the center of the dark cloud. All of a sudden, lightning exploded next to Lester. He didn’t flinch. He put his hand on Icarus and started channeling mana. More and more lightning crashed around Lester. A faint barrier could be seen around Lester and Icarus if the lightning struck too close. Lester finished charging his spell and opened fire.

Hundreds of beams of light erupted from Icarus’s beak. The beams spread out into the night sky. Almost like a light switch was flipped, night became day. The dark clouds were ripped asunder, forcing whatever dark evil away. Lester and Icarus pursued, chasing the being down until its death. The globe reset back to the image of Lester riding Icarus.

“Lester.” Max said. Vel nodded and Clammy quietly gasped.

“That was on our forty-ninth anniversary. An emergency alert sounded, and Lester was the only one with the means of dealing with it. He left during dinner and came back a few hours later. I was… I was so pissed at the time.”

“He’s so strong.” Clammy said under her breath.

“The strongest.” Vel corrected.

Max saw a small tear just moments before it was manipulated away.

“What are these?” Max asked, changing the topic.

“Memory globes!” The innkeeper answered from across the room.

She had finished telling Bishop and Reep about the rumors and heard Max’s question.

“Memories? How do they change their perspective?” Max questioned.

“Magic! Duh!”

“Right, but that doe-”

“How did you get this one?” Vel interrupted Max’s questions.

“Is that the [Light Mage]?” She waited for Vel’s confirmation. “Oh maybe sixty years ago that mage came in without any money for a room. Told him I would trade a room for the night for a memory. He said this was a very important day.”

Vel had to fight herself not to break down and cry.

“H-how m-uch?” Vel choked.

“Do… Do you know him?”

“He’s my h-husband.” Vel couldn’t hold it any longer and started to cry. Her tears were quickly removed and flowed away, but it was obvious what was happening.

“Take it. It’s for moments like this, I collect these. To remember those who were taken, or to celebrate better times.”

Vel nodded, taking the globe back from Max, and quickly left the room. Clammy and Reep looked at each other and followed Vel out.

“Thank you for that. I haven’t seen her like that in a long time.” Bishop said, showing that he did care for the old crow.

“But seriously... Can you teach me how to make a globe like this? Also, how long can they be? And what about audio?” Max already had ideas.

“Woah woah woah. Why should I even think about teaching you? It's a very complicated process and I don’t want to waste my time.”

“What do you want…?”

The Elven woman put her hand on him. She stood like that for a few moments.

“I don’t think there is anything you have that I would want.”

Max was downcast. He was about to beg, but the door to the inn swung open. A humanoid figure made entirely out of sticks walked in. It walked and moved just like a human would but was obviously being controlled by something. When the innkeeper noticed, she gasped and dropped her shoulders in a bow.

“Lord [Arbor]! What brings you to the Garden of Globes?” She said, remaining in her bow.

Meanwhile, Max and Bishop eyed the figure of sticks doubtfully. The stick man looked around the room. A deep blue glow emanated from its eye sockets. The blue gaze stopped on Max.

“Mmm… Why have you not come to see me yet? Even after I solved your problems at the gate?”

The being had no mouth or nose but was able to speak. Max shuddered after hearing its chilly artificial voice.

“[Arbor] Honeygreen?” Max asked.

An even louder gasp sounded from the innkeeper. She dropped to her knees and moved her hand into a prayer grip.

“Indeed.” The [Arbor] moved his attention to the woman. “Stop it child. Did your parents not teach you about self-respect?”

She slowly looked up; her eyes wide. “Y-yes my Lord. Wo-would you like anything to eat or or- or drink?”

“Child. I am a tree. I do not eat or drink the same way you do... Thank you, however.”

“O-of course! Sorry my Lord!” She dropped back into a bow.

Honeygreen sighed, “Let's talk in private.” He moved for the door and gestured for Max and Bishop to follow. Outside they found Clammy, Reep, and a down casted Vel. They were sitting across the street on a bench made of a single large leaf. They noticed the wooden figure first, surprising them. Then they noticed their comrades following behind, surprising them more.

Bishop gestured for them to follow. The entire group moved down the path, deeper into the city. They moved between allies and tunnels; it was clear to Max that the [Arbor] wanted to keep them hidden.

The city was created in circular layers. Each layer had a different category of building types. The most outer ring was almost entirely residential. The next was commercial, after that was more niche buildings, such as government buildings or bath houses. The center ring was the religious section.

No one had explained it to Max yet, but the [Arbors] each had their own religion. While not true religions like for the gods of Nava, the religions of the [Arbors] acted more like political parties. Esmel had six [Arbors]. Each has their own policies and ideas, and each fights for power. Except for Honeygreen. He acts more of a tie breaker than a dedicated vote. The other [Arbors] are afraid of him however, no one knows how powerful he actually is.

At the very center of the city was Honeygreen. He is by far the tallest tree in the area, trumping over the other [Arbors]. As the group approached, Max tried to crane his neck and see the top. Max let out a slight gasp when he saw that clouds were blocking his view partially up Honeygreen’s trunk.

“How are the other plants alive when there is no sunlight?” Max asked the group.

“Interesting, I thought someone who was marked by Seetrin would be more knowledgeable when it comes to magic.” Honeygreen said.

Max recoiled slightly at Honeygreen’s insult.

“OH! I must apologize to you, Max. I am not used to talking with people. Please forgive my arrogance. After all, you came here to help my city.” Honeygreen said.

“Ah... Thank you... But you are right, I don’t know much about magic.” Max thought for a moment before adding, “I think Emi is the primary reason Seetrin gave me the mark and the quest. Without Emi, I don’t think she would have even talked to me.”

The group followed the [Arbor] into a small door in the base of his trunk. Mana lights flicked to life, revealing a spacious room full of cobwebs and furniture. The room was themed like most of the rest of the city. Nature. An overwhelming sense of age radiated from the room, causing Clammy to gape in awe. To her, a princess, Honeygreen reminded her of home. Both the castle she grew up in and this room gave off the same energy. Overwhelming Authority.

“I was meaning to ask; can I connect with her?” Honeygreen asked, gesturing to Emi.

“Like a mana connection?” Honeygreen nodded. “You have to ask her, not me.”

“Ah.” He turned to Emi, who regarded him slowly. “Little one, may I speak to you?”

Emi nodded hesitantly. After a moment, the connection was made. It was an invisible connection, but since Max was Emi’s bond, he could feel it. It was the same connection that Seetrin used.

Little one, can you understand me? Honeygreen asked through the connection.

Emi nodded and sent a few mental images and feelings of her being unable to talk.

I see. A pity. But you are young. You will get there. I promise. Honeygreen sent calming and positive feelings to Emi.

I wanted to speak with you mainly because I’ve never met a being such as yourself. Seetrin mentioned you when we last talked. She was also unknowing of your kind but spoke at length of the instinct she felt when she looked at you.

Emi twisted her head in confusion causing Max to speak up.

“What instinct was she talking about?”

Submission. Honeygreen sent through the connection.

Max and Emi looked at each other. Emi asked Max a question to relay to Honeygreen, through images and feelings.

“Emi wants to know why Seetrin felt that way?”

Seetrin wasn’t sure either. She said she has only felt the same when meeting a God or an Eldritch.

Max and Emi both fell into deep contemplation. Minutes went by in silence before someone spoke.

“Hello! Can we go back to the verbal conversion?” Clammy asked impatiently.

“Right! Right! Sorry… To answer your question, Max. Any plant or tree that we [Arbors] want to grow or keep alive, simply will. It’s something that comes along with us being a Land Class. You’d find that similar classes can do similar things.”

“Huh? Oh... That makes sense, I guess.” Max said. He was only partially paying attention, however.

“Can we move on to why you are helping Max?” Vel asked, pushing along.

“He has been marked. Simple as that.” The [Arbor] said.

“Marked by the Unicorn?”

“Indeed. Beings who have been marked by a Legendary Beast are able to sense others with the same mark. Max should be able to sense my mark.”

Max’s eyes widened a little. “I’m not sure what I should be sensing?” Max said to Honeygreen.

“I see. Seetrin has never been the most informative, huh.” Honeygreen’s stick body rubbed where a beard might be a subconscious mannerism of thought. “Do you know how to sense souls?”

“No. No he does not.” Vel answered before Max could. She glared at the ancient man.

“Of course. I meant nothing by the question.” He held his hands in surrender. “It would just be easier if he could… What about Mana Vision? Do you know the spell?”

“No…” Max answered slowly, his mind thinking about souls.

“Ah! I see, no wonder you couldn’t see me. Hmmm… It has been a while since I taught someone…” A warm smile arced from his lips. The man was reminiscing about a kind old memory.

“Max, Mana Vision is a pretty simple spell. You are already using it, just at a much lower level. Well, everyone is, not just you. The spell allows the caster to see mana.” Vel said, impatiently.

“What do you mean everyone?” Max questioned.

Vel held up her hands. In her left, a ball of mana was formed, in her right nothing.

“What do you see?” She asked.

“A mana ball in your left hand. Nothing in your right?”

“Correct, for the most part.” She slowly pushed the visible ball at Max, it hit him softly in the shoulder. She then did the same for the invisible ball that was in her right. Max reacted like most would, he was confused.

“Mana can be invisible. Most of the simpler, mana only, spells can be cast invisibly. But what I meant by everyone uses Mana Vision is that we can see mana regardless of casting the spell.” She waited for Max to acknowledge that he understood. Instead, he spoke.

“And if I cast the spell, I would be able to see the invisible mana?”

“Very good.” Vel said, with a slight smile. “The spell is easy once you learn the trick, but we can do that later. For now, let's get this conversation over with.” With that, Vel leaned back in her chair and waited for Honeygreen to speak.

“You’ll have to forgive me. It has been much too long since I have spoken with mortals… I often forget that time means something to you.” Honeygreen said, making Vel roll her eyes.

“I thank you all for coming. We are in need of great assistance, and I fear it may already be too late…”

Honeygreen began to account for what has been plaguing the city. He spoke for many hours, but the summary of it was that bad things have been happening. Elves have been going missing in masses. There has been no identifiable pattern of these missing persons, they were from all backgrounds. Old, young, male, female, wealthy, poor, even a few of the non-Elf citizens have gone missing.

Honeygreen went on to recount some of the guards' findings. Many sacrificial runes have been found in the forest outside of Esmel’s territory. 4 people, each at the crossroads for a mana point within the sacrificial rune. 1 in the center. Honeygreen, from his countless decades of experience, gave his opinion that whoever was casting the spell wanted the center person to receive something from the other 4.

The worst part about it, was that some of the found runes didn’t have a center person. The only logical conclusion was that those sacrifices worked. Whoever was in the center, most likely has whatever evil affliction the caster wanted. Honeygreen spoke of potential effects that he has seen from similar runes. None of which sounded good.

The worst were among the use of plague, mana explosions, environment changes, and mana drought. The first was simple, after all Max had already encountered something similar with the Book of Pestilence. Mana explosions used all of the mana within a person to explode, a living bomb that could cause mass devastation.

Environment changes were something new to Max, but it was made from Max’s small pool of magical knowledge. The simple version was that there are spells that could raise or lower the temperature of a small area. The issue became when someone combined a mana explosion with an environment change spell. A living bomb that could wipe out part of a city, but also make the surrounding area too hot or cold for living beings.

The last and most unlikely was a mana drought. A relatively niche and under researched area of magic, mana droughts were rare. The mana in an area would simply disappear. There have only been a few accounts of droughts in the last hundred years.

But one of the reasons Vast Empire was so feared was that they brought upon a mana drought within multiple cities. They then released a plague, and since there was no mana to purge the citizens, the plague ran rampant. The drought would vanish before any research was able to be conducted.

“Of course, there is always the possibility that this isn’t Vast Empire, and just a start-up [Dark Mage].” Honeygreen added. “But with the attack on Lesterwood, we can’t be too careful.”

Everyone sat in silence absorbing the information.

This seems a lot worse than what Seetrin believed. The potential for an entire city to simply be wiped out is too high. Sacrifice some people, and boom! A city gone. How the hell do things like this not happen all the time? Magic is crazy powerful… and dangerous… Max was thinking aloud through his bond with Emi.

Emi had to agree. During their travels to Esmel, Emi was able to reach level 3. She physically had become a little stronger and faster. Max had told the group about his theory of hidden stats and Emi being unable to allocate points. Bishop, the system expert, agreed with him.

“That is a popular theory.”

Emi had also become much more intelligent. She still can’t speak since her vocal cords aren't developed enough, but she has been able to send Max more though their bond. Max and Emi’s bond was different from the connection that Seetrin or Honeygreen created. The bond was more of a mental connection rather than one created with mana. It was easier for Emi to speak through the bond.

Magic good. People bad. Emi sent to Max, who smiled and leaned back.

Yeah, you're right. Magic has the same potential for evil as good. It's all up to the caster.

“What do I need to do?” Max said, breaking the silence.

“That is the question… How do you sense evil?” Honeygreen asked.

“I’m not really sure. But between me and Emi we both felt the same thing when we saw the Book of Pestilence.”

“A test then.” Suddenly a figure made of sticks, removed itself from one of the wall, making most of the party jump. The figure was the same as the one the group was speaking to, but this one had glowing yellow eyes. “Split Consciousness is a wonderful Land Class spell. I don’t recommend learning it for mortals, however.”

A few moments later the stick man returned holding three items. He sat down on the small table in front of Max. A spear, a ring, and a globe similar to the ones he saw in the inn, were displayed.

“These are three relics I have collected over the years. One of them was used by an evil [Sorcerer]. Can you tell which?”

Enchanted Gold Ring

Elderbark Spear

Memory Globe

Max and Emi started their probe. Each item came back with a normal Inspect, but Max already accounted for that. Afterall the Book of Pestilence changed what Inspect said for everyone. Both felt nothing from the spear. The ring had some interesting characteristics, but nothing evil. Lastly, the globe. It also felt normal, but there was something about it that Max couldn’t place.

Do you feel something weird about the globe? Max asked Emi.

Yes.

Max leaned forward to get a better view. He watched the memory within the globe. It was of a small Elven boy waiting for dinner at the dining table. Max could see the innocent excitement that the child had over dinner. He looked so happy when he ate his first bite, and so said on his last. The memory restarted, causing Max to look away. Honeygreen eyed him suspiciously, but Max and Emi had found it.

“The memory is of the [Sorcerer]. His childhood I would guess.”

“Correct.” Honeygreen said with relief. “The [Sorcerer]’s name was Limpu. He… he was a friend of mine before I became an [Arbor]. A few months after that memory, his parents were murdered, and he fell to dark magics in his quest for revenge…”

Honeygreen had a sour and bitter expression.

“I’m glad to see that Seetrin was right about you. Your help might prove crucial.”

Max nodded and looked over his companions. They all looked to him with varying levels of emotion. Some excited, others worried.

“Alright. Where do we begin?” Max asked, leveling his resolve.

“What Max means is. Where do we begin, in the morning?” Vel corrected.

Max realized just how tired he was, after all, this meeting had been going on for hours.

“Of course. I will have a guide sent to your inn in the morning. They will take you to the sacrificial runes we have found. I think that would be a good starting point.”

Everyone agreed and left back to the inn.

Max and Emi spent the whole night training on the infinite beach.