In a silent night, most of the lives in the forest had gone into a slumber. There were only the sounds of insects ringing in this dark night and the voices of owls hoo-hooing under the starlight.

However, a faint light came out from a flute tree, a big tree popular for its trait of having a hollow cavity inside its trunk and giving out a drum-like vocal upon knocking on its bark.

Today, this flute tree seemed to accommodate a group of guests inside.

“A spirit that can talk?,” the guest who was but a single deer skull hanging down with vines asked, “I’ve never heard of that, my lord. Are you sure that the words didn’t come from your [Mind link]? They are forest spirits after all.”

“No, I’m pretty sure that I heard it with my own ears. Besides, I can’t connect the link with those light particles,” another guest who was a white-haired boy answered.

After the ritual had ended, it was almost dark so Lunus had led him and the rabbits to find a shelter. They arrived at this tree just before the night came and decide to sleep here for the night.

It seemed these rabbits also fled from hearing the news about the green warts before joining Oscar, so they had decided to follow him since it looked safer this way.

Of course, the person himself didn’t mind to have living fluffy things around.

“By the way, my lord. What are those cloth?”

“Cloth? You mean these vines? I’m interested in how you can control vines so I try to do the same as you. Maybe we can help together to improve your controlling skills.”

The warm light shone from the berries grew on Lunus’ body uncovered the shape of another group of moonlight vines and leaves that coiled around and covered Oscar’s body. They were neatly attached to his bare skin leaving almost no white to be seen.

In the ritual, Oscar got the glimpse of how to accelerate the growth of plants: it was to pour just the right amount of mana into it. However, he must be careful as to not monsterize it from injecting too much mana.

From understanding this trick, he experimented in recreating the ritual’s effect on his body. He fused with the leftover seeds of the moonlight vines and made it cover around him like a cloth… or rather an armor.

The vines now stuck to his skin forming a thin membrane between them. He could even felt the sensation from the vines as if they were his own limbs.

“Still, what are clothes?”

“My lord, I’m not so knowledgeable about it either, but I appeared to know that they are an invention of a race called human.

I met one of them years ago by chance. That one said that they wrapped themselves in a thin layer of fur-like product to keep themselves warm.”

“Heh~, so these are similar to those clothes? No wonder why I feel a little bit warmer now that I cover myself in these vines.”

Still, the coldness of the night in a forest was too severe. A simple leaf cloth could never perfectly keep his body warm. Every single breeze passing through the huge entrance made him shudder and rub his body to warm himself up.

Seeing that, the rabbits who were feeding on Moonlight berries began to cuddle around him to warm him up.

“Thank you, everyone. If I don’t have you guys, I must die from this coldness for sure.”

He petted the rabbits as he plucked some of the berries grew on his vine cloth to feed them.

He then shifted his gaze toward Lunus who went silent for a while as if thinking about something. Oscar couldn’t read his face since it was just a solid skull, but somehow he could feel some nervousness in Lunus’ eyes. It might be an effect from the [Mind link].

“Lunus, don’t you feel cold?”

Hearing that snapped Lunus back to the reality as he turned to face his lord.

“I apologize for my rudeness, my lord. It appears that this state of mine is unable to feel hot nor cold. How should I put it? Although I can feel that it’s cold from the sensation of these vines, the coldness just doesn’t make me feel pleasure nor painful.

It might be because I had turned into a being similar to undead. Now I can’t even feel sleepiness nor hunger.”

Dumbfounded from the fact he had learned, Oscar’s face turned ugly as he pitied Lunus.

“It’s my fault for pushing you into this state. I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s not my lord’s fault!”

Lunus got nervous to cheer his lord up as his vines wiggled and pushed his face down from the ceiling.

“Rather, I’m happy that at least I can move around like this! Look at my past self. I can’t even talk to anyone left alone moving just an inch, but with these vines, I can do whatever I want. It is due to my lord that I could regain my hope and goal, so please don’t feel down.”

Hearing that, Oscar felt delighted. It was not his fault that Lunus had lost his senses of pain and pleasure, instead, he had helped him regain his hope.

A pleasure of successfully doing something good rose up in his tiny heart.

“I’m glad that my power can help you. I will try my best to perfectly revive you in the future!”

He gave Lunus a wide grin.

As if an illusion of smile appeared on Lunus’ face, he embraced Oscar who gave all of his spirit in helping him. His vines enveloped Oscar and the rabbits into a round loose cocoon. Their branched stretched out reaching the walls to support the sphere.

“With this, you will not get cold,” he said to his lord together with giving off a heartwarming aura.

His other vines stretched and filled the huge entrance, blocking the cold wind to enter.

“Thank you. Also, your skills develop so fast. You must be able to take your original form in no time!”

“That’s good to hear. Now, please rest, my lord. I might not feel sleepiness, but your body needs to rest else you won’t grow.”

“...Yes, that’s right. Good night, Lunus.”

“Good night, lord Oscar.”

Lunus stopped sending his mana to his berries, making them slowly dimmed down. Darkness enveloped the room and soon after everyone was deep asleep…

...except for one person.

The green flames within Lunus’ hollow eyes were lit within the darkness. In front of him, his lord was there. He could feel his lord’s sounds, the warmth, and the presence. His beloved lord was alive and well.

He admired his lord, a forest god. However, his lord was still growing; his current control over his power was still limited.

On top of that, his physical power was only that of a child. If he was to face the green warts, he might die within a single strike.

The green light in Lunus’ eyes flickered.

Back when he pleaded to his lord, he lost all of his reasoning to revenge and responsibility as the previous ruler of the forest. However, when he had calmed down, he had time to carefully rethink and learn about his lord’s current ability.

Then a question floated up in his mind.

“How could I let my beloved lord fight in his immature state like this?,” he blamed himself.

If his lord, a forest god, die during a future fight with those green warts, how could he defend his acts in front of his herd and his partner in heaven?

My lord must not die from those lowly green warts!, he cursed.

An existence called a forest god is exceptional. No matter how severe the crisis a forest was facing be, he could eliminate the causes and rebuild the forest in but a moment.

Even the death was said to be rewinded.

However, his current lord still couldn’t control his power. Letting him fight in this state was no different from pushing him off a cliff.

“It was my responsibility as the ruler… no, as a forest protector to get rid of any existence that can harm this forest and my lord.”

He once again stared into the darkness where his lord was. His eyes were way better than when he was alive since he had become a half-undead.

After seeing his beloved lord for the last moment, he swung a vine at a tremendous speed.

The vine he swung cut down the branches of vines that enveloped his lord in a cocoon, separating them from his body. The cocoon shook a little, but it seemed his lord who was sleeping inside didn’t notice it since he was still sleeping soundly.

“Well then please excuse my rude acts, my lord. But seeing your pure smile made my heart ache when I thought about bidding you farewell...”

He pushed his way out of the hollow tree and once again cut his vines that covered the entrance out. However, after applying his overflowing mana to the severed parts, the vines quickly grew back in seconds.

“...because you remind me of my dead unborn children.”

With a swoosh, a deer skull attached to a cluster of vines leaped into the air. Its vines caught and coiled around tree branches hurling its gruesome body from tree to tree.

Not even the trees noticed him since they were also asleep in the night time; however if someone saw such a scene with his own eyes, he must have several nights of terrorful nightmares.

Still, not everyone was in his slumber at the time as a pair of slanted eyes stared fixedly at what Lunus did. Its tail flicked as if it foresaw a fun thing going to happen.

>>>>>>>

Skill encyclopedia: [Growth acceleration]

Type: Branch skill

[Growth acceleration] is a skill derived from [Authority of forest god] skill. For a forest god, this is a common skill that everyone must have though the condition to unlock this skill normally takes some time to pass.

[Growth acceleration] helps the skill holder to manipulate the growth of a living being under his jurisdiction. By applying his mana to the subject, it will accelerate the growth of the target without turning the target into a monster.

This skill can be used on both plants and animals; however, it takes several folds less mana to accelerate the growth of a plant than an animal. In addition, the damage that a plant take or the severed part of a plant can be easily regenerated through this skill.

The condition to acquire this skill is to slowly observe a plant from seed to fully grow and bear fruits. For other forest gods, it might take them months or years before acquiring this skill.