The system took control. Starting at her feet, the Dryad's physical body disintegrated into a mixed cluster of brown and pale yellow light, shining like a rotating disco ball. By the time her chest and head also devolved into a light, the cluster had taken on an additional color: a blindingly bright and overpowering deep green. The entire process happened quickly, painlessly, and silently.

"What's happening?" Daryl looked at Anya worriedly.

"She's attempting to bring life back into this land. I unintentionally turned this area into less than a wasteland. Using an ability I had no idea what it would do, or how it would affect me." Jaden watched Anya without blinking, "But, I was desperate. Afraid of what would happen if I did nothing."

Anya rose into the air, she floated into the exact center of her territory. The mixed cluster of light rained down upon the ground. Roots exploded out from her form rushing in every direction, plunging deep down into the land.

Sasha, will she be able to succeed, without being affected?

If I say no, what will you do? It's too late to stop this process now.

The roots slowly started sapping something from Anya, pulsing as it pumped it into the ground. Her light dimmed, the brightest of which faded almost entirely over time.

"Assuming the land is devoid of 'life', she's using her own health pool to restore the land." Jaden surmised, "Does she have enough of a pool to succeed?"

As a Dryad evolved from an artificial tree spirit? This area is likely beyond her capability. A true nature spirit would have difficulty. It's just a matter of time, she will die.

"I had faith she could do it. I still do. But... I'm not just going to watch any longer," Jaden walked forward to the main taproot. He grabbed hold, feeling it pulsing as it siphoned life from Anya to pump into the ground. Greedy thing... it's taking her life faster than she can recover it. He dug his nail into his palm, drawing blood and grabbed hold of the root.

Brother, no! I can't control augh...

The root sent a feeler into his palm and greedily pulled on his life pool. Jaden shook his head in disappointment, "Don't underestimate me." He forced his health pool to drain into the root. Far more than the root could pump into the ground, it backed up the root towards Anya's body. Her dimmed form lit up brilliantly and a new color emerged from within: a strong but gentle purple wrapped around the others like a silent guardian. Tree branches sprouted from above her, forming a huge tree canopy as it expanded, leaves sprouted and grew, filling and dominating the branches.

"You should have done that first and then rooted yourself," Jaden sighed, "but you didn't have control did you?"

Jaden felt something stirring in the ground, forcing its way up through the roots. Void. He pushed a bit of his divinity into the taproot, drawing its attention like a magnet.

You need to stop...the amount of void detected here, it is too much.

"I caused this. I won't allow this to corrupt anyone I care about and I want you to find some way to nullify it."

... Sure, just give me an impossible task. You are an ass. Anything else you'd like to tag on while you are at it? Like the solution cannot be worse than carrying void energy around?

"That... would be... great..." Jaden forced through a pained voice as the void entered his body. Pain on a level he'd never known existed assaulted his him, dominated his mind, pushed his acceptable pain threshold into a frenzy where he wished this would kill him. He wasn't so lucky. He vented a blood-chilling pained scream the likes of which this world had never heard before, nor would it ever hear again. Still, he held on to the root with an iron grip. Even as his legs turned to pudding beneath him, unable to support his weight. He focused on one task. He held onto that root with every bit of energy he could muster.

Name Jaden Title Child of Prophecy Level 20[error] Health pool 2500/10000[error] Mana pool 9000/9000[error] Strength 25[error] Constitution 25[error] Dexterity 25[error] Agility 25[error] Wisdom 10[error] Intelligence 2[error] Willpower 20[error] Divinity 25%(90%) Void 75%(10%) Misc This host is a god's soul reborn in a mortal body. Height, weight, age mean nothing; his body will adapt to the level of power he requires. Reverting to a lower power state is more difficult, borderline impossible. Skill List Divine Void

When he felt the external void vanish, his hand relaxed; the incoming pain subsided. He collapsed to the ground like a dead weight in freefall. The pain that wracked his body ever-present as he fought to stay conscious.

Crea... Jaden. Are you trying to give me a heart attack here? I have no choice but to figure out how to remove void corruption from living beings. I can not imagine that in your case the void can just be 'deleted' as I did with my data. If it could, just what would be lost with it?

With the void corruption removed from the land, the dead feeling Anya felt had vanished as well. All resistance to her efforts faded away.

Corruption cleansed

Proceeding with territory reconstruction

The land burst into life. Trees, grasses, flowers, every manner of plant life sprouted from the ground, growing into a thick forest. Anya directed the plants, turning the explosive and wild growth into an organized structure. Trees expanded and twisted together, forming into buildings. Mosses, vines, and grasses adorned each, softening the hard exterior into a vision welcoming to the eye.

Jaden lay collapsed, forgotten as a city grew before their eyes. The splendor of its appearance capturing their attention and captivating their minds.

Anya extracted herself from the tree that formed around her in the center of her territory. The red rose in her hair now stained purple. She raised Jaden to his feet, let him rest against her, and turned to everyone as they were still awestruck at the sudden nature city that grew from nothing just moments ago.

Task complete

Welcome home. Her crystal clear voice intoned in their minds. With a simple thought, she sent the entire city bursting into bloom. Her vision locked onto Vivian as she remained asleep. Anya frowned.

Activate [Nature's Blessing]! She demanded.

"Thank you, go rest for now; I need you to do another task for me." Queen seated on her throne dismissed the messenger with a wave. Queen hid her frown in front of her subject, "Adviser."

"I'm not confident an all-out war is in our best interest, still I share your feelings on the matter." Fixer stated.

Queen's frown deepened. "Am I just to abandon my people?"

"All I'm saying, don't be hasty. How would King handle this situation?" Fixer asked, knowing her demeanor flipped whenever that person entered her thoughts.

"He would... I'm not sure. If he knew what awaited his people in this case. I do know this: he would not abandon them. He'd rush to get them back."

"He also has the strength within himself to do so, in all our soldiers, can we say the same?"

"Summon Brains and Brawn." Queen sighed, "I'll hear what everyone has to say on this matter."

"You've grown, Queen." Fixer smiled inwardly.

"King... how far can I go without ruining what progress I have made? How deeply have I etched myself into your heart?" she sighed alone. I wish I possessed your level of strength.

"Queen," Brains and Brawn greeted her with reverence.

"Come, we have much to discuss."

...

"We need more intel, but I have to agree with Adviser, now isn't the time to strike." Brains frowned. Brawn took a bite of bread. Queen rubbed her head. "We'll sacrifice more lives than we're trying to recover. Harsh as it sounds, it's true. Worry not, we will get them back."

"You know something?" Queen asked.

"Your great leadership will pull us through this. There's also his strength." Brains patted Brawn's shoulder.

"Have we scouted to their town?" Brawn asked.

"I have dispatched them, but they are long overdue," Queen shook her head, caught off guard by Brains' smile.

"Urgent messenger for the Queen!" Queen stared hard at Brains as she signaled the scout to enter.

"Brains. I'd prefer not being kept in the dark, even if you can't make sense of the oracle." Queen sounded irritated. "Your report."

"I..." the rat-man remembered himself, snapping smartly to attention, "My Queen, they've captured a Mirage Dragon."

"Your certain?!" Queen rose to her feet.

"Be calm Queen," Brains fixed her in his gaze, "One in your position cannot get excited."

"Go on." Queen took a breath and sat back down.

"Very certain Queen. I saw the majesty of it, the regality of its fire and in my haste to return..." the rat-man turned around, showing how the heat alone scalded his backside as he ran away from it.

"How close were you to it?" Queen asked, "Summon Alchemist."

"C-close? Surely you jest. I was well outside the city limits plotting my infiltration. When I saw the dragon rise into the sky, I swear it saw me too. Gave me a smile as a warning before unleashing its fire. I ran away as fast as I could."

"That would be..." Brains scratched his chin, "All vagueness in the oracle points to that creature being important."

"Brains..." Queen scowled.

"A guardian. Born of fire, their true form hidden. An angered god's revenge. A plot that ties two races together intimately."

Brawn shoved the remainder of his bread in his mouth. Brains cast him a sideways glance, "How many times I have to tell you not to eat anything bigger than your own head?"

Brawn shrugged as he chewed.

"Make ready for war." Queen declared, "We have to interfere. I don't like the idea of a mirage dragon and the Liralau tied together that deeply."

"That's one way to look at it," Brains frowned, "I was hoping it meant the Rat and the Jadendajuda would finally be bound together."

Queen blushed slightly, she liked the sound of that. "I want the entire garrison ready to march by dawn."

"That's a bit... Yes, Queen!" Brawn jumped to his feet and bolted to carry out her bidding.

Vivian's eyes squeezed tightly, she grunted before her eyes relaxed and slowly opened. She stretched, getting her blood flowing.

"Auntie Vivi!" unable to contain herself, Emily tackled her.

"Oof!" Vivian smiled through the unexpected impact that slightly winded her, "It's nice to see you too Emily."

"Vivian," Bayne, Daryl, Lulu, and Molli bowed slightly as they performed their racial greeting, "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," Vivian rubbed her head as she sifted through the haze in her mind.

"Anya."

Mother.

"Hmm?" Vivian looked around, her gaze falling on Jaden slumped against a woman looking more like a plant than flesh. "Anya?"

Yes, it's me, Mother. Anya offered a complicated smile. Welcome home!

Vivian cleared her mind as she looked around, "I've missed a few things."

"Indeed, you have Mother. It's good to see you moving around and to hear your voice again." Jaden spoke haltingly as he leaned against Anya.

"What happened to you?" she rushed to her son. "You're all grown up! Just how long was I out?"

Jaden smiled weakly, "This... maybe three weeks?"

"Three weeks...?" Vivian looked over her son, "Not to say this isn't important but I can't help but think there are more pressing matters. Why do you look like you just ran a gauntlet through the realm of death?"

"Looks that bad huh? Can't say as I feel much better than that though. Suffice to say, this is my punishment for using a power my body wasn't ready for." Jaden shrugged.

"Where's Evan?"

"Training with the Rats," Daryl responded, the confusion of that fact evident in his voice.

"Isa?" Vivian looked to all of them, they all shook their head. Until she looked at the Liralau.

"I was the last to talk to her, she flew off... in that direction. Toward the Liralau city," she stated.

No rest for the wicked. Well, I did just rest for three weeks. Vivian sighed, "Anya... I need a quarterstaff. Please."

"You're going after Isa?" Jaden tried to stand on his own, pushing off of Anya.

"If she's been gone three weeks, I can't help but think something bad has happened." Vivian nodded.

"I'll go with you." Jaden took a faltering step forward, steadying himself as he pushed through the pain.

Sasha. Vivian held her hand up, stopping him. "A moment."

Welcome back, Vivian.

Thanks for the emotional hug, I needed that. What's going on with my son? Show me his status. Vivian paused for a moment, Ok, now show me his actual status. Errors don't help me understand what's going on and you felt guilty when you displayed that. Stop hiding it.

Vivian pinched her nose as she looked over the information. Ok, I understand Divine well enough, what is Void and why does it look like it's taking over his body?

Void is the anomaly that corrupted my functions and database. Coincidently, it is taking over his body.

That answer did not please Vivian, but it was better than a lie. Is it a threat to his life?

He still has a role to play in the prophecy. If it is life-threatening, surely he will fulfill his role first?

Sasha, don't play games with me.

In truth, I'm not sure either. The pain he is experiencing is his body adapting to the Void. I would say it is on par with divinity, or maybe a higher power considering it appears to be replacing his divinity, but without knowing its true origin, I can only speculate.

Either a blessing or a curse and it's always impossible to tell the difference until it's too late. Vivian sighed. It's been a while, how about a new map function?

I look forward to these requests!

You probably won't like this one. Vivian thought to herself, then directed at Sasha: Map Jaden's body. Perform a thorough scan from head to toe, I want to see the effects of Divinity vs Void.

Vivian felt a stutter of shock from Sasha as she processed the request.

This is a true challenge, I have no functionality even currently unavailable to handle this request.

Can you do it?

This is the one area I have never let you down, I do not intend to start now.

Vivian nodded, it wasn't true of course; she had been disappointed with what Sasha could do with the map before. At her feet a sapling sprouted from the ground, it twisted and twirled around itself.

"Anya," Vivian looked over the staff, "Can you upgrade this so it won't burn? I have a feeling whatever can subdue a phoenix will give me some trouble in the fire department."

"Thinking it over, a fire resist skill would be good too..." Vivian scratched her chin, "Hopefully if I do need it, I'll develop one up as I get closer."

Isa stared at the red and gold flame disdainfully as the last of the collar evaporated in the heat.

Contract Activated