‘Is it a ploy to kill us?’ Rudin speculated. The others also had similar thoughts, but then why would he use such an elaborate rouse? They knew that the Forest Salvus was strong enough to kill them quite easily.

“Why should we accept? You said we can leave after hearing you out. Are you going back on your words?” Veni spoke. She sympathized with the Forest Salvus, but her group came first.

“Of course, I will not stop you from leaving. Will you be able to protect your entire group? They are relying on you to lead them. If you accept to become my new clan, you will be able to use magic and become stronger much faster.” The Forest Salvus answered.

“I will protect my clan with all I have. All I want is to establish a Clan strong enough to stand against any oppressor. I won’t force anyone to do anything and they will always have their free will. Even though the human mages have wronged the Green-Wood Clan, I have no grudge against the humans of today. Totem Lords are dependent on its clan. You will realize what I mean if you accept my offer anyway. All I want is to make sure the Earth is not enslaved. I am a son of the soil and I cannot stand by with my grudges as Earth is ruined by alien invaders.”

Rudin and the others looked at Veni to take the decision. They would accept her choice.

“I accept!” Veni replied,

She wanted her classmates to survive. Although they had become much more adept at surviving, she knew better than anyone how dire their situation was. With no food and no equipment, they would all die if they were to continue in the wild, they would all die in less than a week.

“Come” the Forest Salvus droned.

“I will go first. If I do not come back, leave and get away from this place.” Veni nod at the others and strode forward.

The three looked at Veni’s slim silhouette pass them by and strode forward.

Veni slung the bow into her back and took out a metal pipe from her pocket. On her other hand, she held the flashlight.

As she walked deeper into the cave, the walls became wider. The occasional dripping of water breaking the encompassing silence.

The entirety of the caves was covered in green moss while thick roots covered the floor making walking forward an arduous task.

There were sharp turns every other few moments and after a few more turns cave inclined further downwards.

After walking for five more minutes, after one such turn, Veni noticed a small flickering light up ahead. It emitted a soft yellow glow hovering midair.

“A firefly!” she exclaimed the sudden appearance and ran towards it.

She opened her palm urging the firefly to take a break. The light slowly sank down to her palm. But when she looked at it, she realized this was not a firefly. It was something else, it was only a bright light floating midair.

She immediately let go of it and took a step back.

The light only hovered midair for a moment, before slowing moving forward.

Veni instinctively followed the light as it led her deeper into the cave. The cave became more complicated as multiple forks appeared, but she did not get lost following the light particle.

She reached a large open clearing, the size of a football field.

The walls of the clearing were covered by roots and moss. Veni could see the entire clearing as the place was illuminated by the thousands of the light particles floating together near the roof.

At the other end of the clearing was a bare tree the height of one’s waist. There was not a single leaf on its branches and its greyish look gave the aura of death and decay.

But the tree was not dead yet. Veni could feel the croaking of the small bare tree barely holding onto life.

“There was a time when my shade could cover a thousand kilometres. But in the effort to save my clan I whiled away every last drop of my reserves, ending in the state you see me now. You see, without a clan, a Creation Spirit can only live a miserable life such as mine..” The voice of the Forest Salvus reverberated from the tree.

If this was the power of the Forest Salvus, she could only imagine what powers he had at its peak.

“Veni, do you accept to become the first of the Green-Wood Clan?” the Forest Salvus asked.

“I accept!” Veni replied.

“Then come. Bow down before your Totem Lord and accept my blessing” the Forest Salvus instructed.

She walked up to the withering tree and bowed down on one knee.

“We will together create a new Green Wood Clan.” the Forest Salvus spoke.

The relief in the voice of the Forest Salvus was as if years of regret had finally washed off.

Suddenly vines sprouted from the ground and started wrapping around Veni’s ankles and slowly moved to cover her whole body.

“What are you doing?” Veni panicked.

“Do not worry, I will not do anything to harm my clan.” A steady voice reached her ears.

Slowly her entire body was wrapped by the vines. Even though she struggled in panic, there was no way she could free herself. The last thing she would remember was the feeling of being hoisted up.

---

Veni could feel an energy gathering within her. The energy moved slowly at the start and then it started getting more violent almost as if it would tear her apart.

“Huff!” she woke up, gasping for breath.

As she regained her consciousness, she realized she was lying on the floor before the withering tree. She slowly picked herself up to look around her. There was a new branch on the tree now, with a single green leaf on it.

When she checked her own self, she realized that something felt odd. She had the feeling of this odd energy within her.

Ding

[Quest Failed!]

[You have failed to clear the Forest Salvus Dungeon]

Ding

[You have received the blessings of the Totem Lord Forest Slavus]

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have become the Leader of the Green-Wood Clan]

[Green-Wood Clan has accepted the protection of the Forest Salvus Totem Lord]

Ding

[Congratulations!]

[You have unlocked the stat Mana]

Veni received a flood of notifications.

Of all the notifications that she received the one that caught her eye was the [Mana]. She unlocked a stat other than the basic stats!

‘The feeling must be of Mana!’ she looked at her hands. She then checked what the stat exactly was.

[Mana]

[Humans unlock this once they are able to channel the mana outside. After God’s evolution plan, the Human body evolved to be able to absorb mana. Once the host is able to find a method to manifest it outside their body, the stat is unlocked.

The base value of Mana that every human body can store is 10. This can be further increased.]

“That means I can do magic now?” Veni murmured

“Yes, you can Clan Chief,” the Forest Salvus spoke.

She suddenly realized that she could clearly understand the relationship between the Totem Lord and the Clan. The Clan Members would be able to call forth the powers of the totem and use them. On the other hand, the bigger the clan and stronger its members, the stronger the Totem Lord would be.

The clan members as they got stronger and contributed to the Clan would be able to call forth greater abilities of the Totem Lord.

“What magic will you impart?” Veni asked, unable to contain her excitement.

“We will have to discuss a lot, Clan Chief. But first, don’t you think you should call your friends in as well?” the Forest Salvus spoke.

“Yes Totem Lord! I will be back in a moment.” Veni replied.

She rushed back to the entrance of the cave. She knew the cave like the back of her hand.

She told the others in the group of the entire episode and the entire group agreed to become a part of the Green-Wood Clan with her as the Chief.

They slowly made their way into the depths of the cave and one by one, every one of them underwent the initiation process. By the end of the process, the Totem Tree was no longer a withering tree.

The Forest Salvus grew as thick as a man’s waist and more than six feet tall. On its trunk were sixteen new branches with one leaf on each branch.

---

While the other’s were going the initiation process, Veni and the Totem Tree were having a telepathic conversation.

“So, were your doubts unfounded?” The Forest Salvus asked.

“Yes, Totem Lord!” she accepted.

“You do not shirk from challenges and at the same time you have great compassion for others. You will be great at leading the clan. For that, I have engraved on your right forearm the Clan Chief Rune.”

Veni immediately pulled the sleeve of her shirt and realized that there was an inked pattern tattooed on her arm in the shape of a straight line with three leaves on either side of it.

“It is a symbol of my trust in you. And moreover, it is with this Rune that we can talk telepathically.”

“Next this is a staff I have made specifically for you” From the ground roots and vines appeared suddenly, forming table. On it was a three feet wooden staff made of entwined roots. “Not only will you be able to cast your spells faster with it, but once you are able to control the first spell, you can use it as a bow as well.”

She picked up the staff. It was much lighter then she expected it to be and she could pick it up with ease.

Holding the staff, she could feel the mana coursing through her body and into the staff, ready to cast off any spell.

After this, the Forest Salvus taught her the spell [Vine Control]. With it, she would be able to grow vines and manipulate it with ease. It was the same magic that tripped Sukak at the forest entrance.

“Vines” she called out concentrating her mana at the ground. Only a small sapling appeared.

She continued her practice for about thirty more minutes and by then she had already exhausted all her mana.

She sat down to recuperate and took the opportunity to check on her stats.

[Veni Zule]

[Strength: 15

Stamina: 14

Perception: 8

Vitality: 7

Agility: 19

Mana: 10]

She could not believe the increase in her stats. [Strength] increased by 7 points, [Stamina] increased by 2 points, [Perception] increased by 2 points [Vitality] increased by 5 points and [Agility] increased by 3 points. Besides that, there was also the [Mana] stat!

Veni let out a smile. This time she had definitely made the right choice!