Expect a battle in the next chap

“Jack, please tell me what I'm looking at” Luke said with an incredulous face.

“Yes sir! A foot tall, huge frontal teeth and smooth white fur. Cuteness level over 9000 if Sarah behaviour is any hint. I would say that we got ourselves a rabbit.” Jack

Actually, there were over a dozen of the little furballs between the treeline and the outer ward. They have appeared out of thin air quite literally, in other words spawned. They looked like classic lvl 1 mobs and practice targets. Well, at least for men, Sarah wanted (and probably most females in the world) to adopt them.

Half an hour have passed since the goblins fruitless attempt to breach their defenses. They had been ‘researching' how many TV channels were still airing. Surprisingly, most news broadcast were down, together with half entertainment transmissions. Porn as ever proved stronger than the end of the world and continued without interruptions. At some point, Sarah got nervous and peered from a hole in a window coverture and discovered these adorable creatures. Her reaction was screaming and ordering Jack to catch one for her to keep. It took them fifteen minutes to convince her that it wasn't an option. Luke could only imagine what her response would be when they had to kill. Not only for the levels but also for the meat and the leather. They had limited supplies that would probably last them a week or more if they rationalized and the greenhouse would make sure they aren't hungry, but meat is a necessary part of most humans diet. So they were obligated to find alternative sources of food. Besides they couldn't predict the future, they couldn't know what could happen. It would be terrible if they lived on vegetables and suddenly hail falls and destroy the greenhouse (this region hadn't had hail or snow in more than twenty years but the changes in the world could have unexpected consequences).

Luke thought this was a great opportunity, he could test if the glamour persisted after attacking or if it dropped and if he was lucky get a level up.

“Stay here, I will go try my luck, don't leave the wards area for any reason.” Luke

Then he grabbed his staff and went outside. The rabbits were prancing around peacefully, eating grass. That got Luke thinking that if herbivores appeared, then predators shouldn't be far off. Goblins could be consider like one but by the quest he received from Bob it didn't look like goblins formed part of the forest ecosystem and balance. If this world respected games logic then soon there should be wolves stalking in the area.

Luke put that thought in the back of his mind while he finally arrived to the glamour. The white terrors were from five to fifteen meters away. He took a couple steps back just to be safe and targeted the nearest one. He pointed his finger (it wasn't necessary but he found the gesture helpful when aiming) and shot one bolt. He wanted to test how much damage it dealt at the same he researched the limits of the misdirection. The bolt didn't kill the creature but left it badly hurt. It looked around rapidly to find from where the attack came but its eyes seemed to pass through my position without recognition. It may be that its Intelligence was simply too low however Luke was content with the result. He called the couple and together they massacred the rabbits that hadn't scattered after the second shot and death of the first monster. Yes, they were monster. Further experiment showed that most of them charged at whatever appeared hoping their number would trample the enemy. This served as a way to bring the ones further away from the ward at striking distance from the spears. After thirty, they stopped, grabbed all the corpses, skinned them and stored the meat for later use. It was great that the house used solar and eolic electricity. If that weren't the case they would be in danger of a blackout at any moment.

Luke leveled up and so did his Mana Bolt. He hesitated in assigning some points in Vitality but in the end he decided the priority was to deal and heal as much damage as possible. Interestingly, Mana Bolt got an extra meter of range when it leveled.

The goblins hadn't come back even though the sun was setting. Luke suspected they got problem of their own: it was possible that the bigger creatures would consider the grey skinned monster as prey and attacked them. In this circumstances, no news was good news.

Luke was comfortably lying on the grass just outside the house when he got curious about trees. If every living being was changing and adapting, then what about trees? He considered this especially important since he was trying to fortify a house in the woods. Quickly, he stood up and went toward the treeline. This was one of Luke’s strong and weak points: he was really curious and as the saying goes, ‘curiosity killed the cat’. He reached a tree but he didn't know how to study if there were any modification to a plant normal structure. Nonetheless it occurred to him that maybe he could use his Mana Control to sense the inside of the tree. The result were extraordinary, trees didn't need to adapt. Their vascular system was prepared to transport his Mana from the leaves to the roots and back. However he found strange that there was no Mana already circulating. Luke decided to inject some of his Mana and open a way for ambient Mana to get inside the tree (until now he was controlling his Mana, now he is talking about putting it inside and let go of his control. He wanted to see if the tree could assimilate the energy). The consequences were far reaching. The tree started growing noticeably taller, it's branches more numerous and the leaves greener. At the same time Luke felt some kind of suction coming from the tree that absorbed the environmental Mana nearby. After five minutes it stopped.

DING

Congratulations! You have started the Awakening of the Forest. You evolved the first tree by giving it some of your Mana and from now on this tree will do the same to his companions through touching roots and branches. While the trees haven't developed a conscience yet, they are grateful.

Reward:

Lowered aggression from creature in balance with the forest.

From every thousand trees awakened by trees you evolved, you receive +1% MP recovery and +1 Intelligence (up to 10xlvl for both)

While you are in a radius of 5 meters of trees you personally awakened, you receive reduced damage and deal extra damage. Depending of how long the tree had been awakened, it might take part in the fight.

Skill Created! Awakening Beginner lvl 1 Use your Mana as a conduit and foundation of the evolution of statics lifeforms. Cooldown: 1 hour. Cost: depends of the size and age of the lifeforms. New Quest! Awaken the forest

You helped the forest protect itself by giving it a new life. However, it might not be fast enough. Completely awaken the forest in a radius of 5 kilometers and eliminate any danger that could upset the balance. (trees can only awaken one of their own per hour)

Reward: Unknown

‘Well, fuck’ Luke thought.

The benefits were obvious but he estimated that the goblin camp should be inside this radius. So to comply with the quest he would have to complete the previous one and he didn't know if he could.