John was getting annoyed while Niera unknowingly leaned harder and harder against John's leg, subconsciously trying to get closer to a place she felt a little safe.

It wasn't because he was getting tired or drained, it was just tedious. By now he had warded off far too many creatures and plants. Strangely, most were suicidal and that was too his benefit as he did not need to eliminate them himself, they just finished themselves off on the shield. But that still left hundreds that fell by his arcane spears with each being thrown by him, in the same way, over and over again.

Besides the baby plant dragons and exploding cacti, there had been floating purple plants with thick petals between which fired needle like seeds, lightning wisps, wind wisps, and many more. There had never been more then a dozen creatures or plants that were the same and he had kills hundreds, possibly more then a thousand. All of which occurred in less then two hours.

Though all of that was behind them now as the treant had stopped, taking them no further than this. They had reached the edge.

"Thissss is as faaaar as I gooooo whoooo-man. Gooood luck."

"Thank you." John returned and the treant turned around.

Turning to look, they found themselves in a dying portion of the forest. It was unnatural and completely out of place given the lush green forest surrounding it.

With no canopy and trees turned grey like a beasts graveyard, it was the stars that now lit their vision. In this place, nothing stirred.

John proceeded carefully, knowing the possible dangers that might be in this place. If this place was indeed a level 12 danger zone, the reason for it being so was most definitely here.

Though hidden, Niera let loose a tear. Elves were known for their love of forests. Their affinity with the spirit world left them close ties with nature and to see any piece of it in such a state would more definitely, scar them.

Still, they pressed on. John was looking for something and after cradling Niera in his arms, took to the sky's and looked though his tracing magic.

Meanwhile Niera looked up. There was no light pollution here like there was in the elven capital. Here you could see countless stars and the cataclysmic events that were First's moons.

Her favorite was Isis and her form was elusive. Isis was a moon made of various minerals and crystals, much of which let light that struck it, pass straight through. Some light did reflect and it is why others came to observe it but this was not always the case. There were times when Isis disappeared, hiding in plain sight where none could see her.

This night she saw it colored in a dim sapphire blue, getting darker across its crescent where it should be getting brighter. She thought it might mean something but as she was not an astronomer, could not fathom as to what. It simply felt ominous.

The two kept moving, John getting closer to his unknown target with the forest getting more desolate with each step. There was no signs of life, no howling of winds, just complete silence. It was like another world. The dead trees didn't even crunch, their hard forms impassive to the weight of footsteps as John touched down.

The only sound in the entire field was Niera's breathing as John's was too difficult to find. It left her imagination to wander as the unknown was truely frightening. Something was out there, something dangerous for those powerful treants to feel fear. But there was just no way to tell what it was.

John changed direction, whatever he was looking he was close to finding it as his eyes began to dart from his magic to his surrounding with increasing.

Soon after this, he found it and his eyes went wide with disbelief.

"One survived." He finally released, putting Niera down.

Here a single patch of green remained. Looking from above you would surely miss it, but in this desolate place, right before them, a spark of life remained.

Within a circle no larger than 2 meters existed a dazzling smooth white seed about the size of a hand. It stood fixed on something that could be seen as an alter made of a golden yellow substance.

Around it were plants in an assortment of shapes and sizes.

John immediately warned Niera, "don't touch that seed," and proceeded to pick what was around it.

"First let me pick these, these demon flowers are exceptionally rare."

Demon flowers were a category of flowers that only grew in an areas where powerful opposing magical forces were actively repelling each other. With this world tree seed surrounded by a large dark force, it was the perfect set of conditions for them to grow in a life-death collision zone.

John wouldn't know the properties of each flower without a proper analysis so he simply approached them with his hand and sucked them into his soul realm hole, the soul realm being the inventory he kept pulling and depositing from. He could access his soul realm from any part of his body, it was just that he was used to pulling things out from pockets.

Back to the demon flowers however, they could be said to be mutations. Demon flowers were always different from each other though as no more then a thousand had been found since the start of first and kept secret from others, it was hard to confirm.

Still, regardless of their history, before him were 21 demon flowers and John most definitely did not miss a single one. He was a vacuum, in that what he came near was sucked it into his skin with a spectacle of dissolving light. It was a bit bizarre.

Now, Niera, do you know what these are?

Niera starred at them, these were as foreign to her as the demon flowers.

"A world tree seed?"

Niera looked at it with doubt. Something this small could become something so large?

"It is and though that is important, look at what it rests upon."

John was referring to the large piece of golden yellow material below it.

"I don't know this material, but I admit my lack skills in crafting."

"Really? I thought the king's bow would of been made of it."

"I have not seen it directly but I know it to be closer to a white tinted brown."

"Strange, they might be using world tree lumber. It's none of my concern though. This is world essence."

"World essence?"

"It's formed when a part of the world tree has a hiccup in harvesting its dragon vein. A piece of energy will get stuck somewhere and build upon itself to form a solid and visible crystal of energy. Compared to its lumber, it's better in every way."

Niera was originally interested in the seed but now took interest in what held it as well. To her, it held a sort of majestic image and was very pretty but didn't hold a presence in magic. With such a description she expected a frightening presence of mana but there was nothing there. She could only believe in John's words with reservations in her heart.

John sighed.

"Now Niera, this is where it gets tricky and a little dangerous."

Niera's ears perked up at John mentioning the word danger.

"Remember when I said this place might be a danger level 12? Well, that was because of how I saw the world tree. Dying in such a state I thought something may have taken advantage of its dead form. Should something be feasting on its collapsed form, it would become immensely powerful as well as loose its mind. It's like trying to command a volcano while your body burns within it."

"What do you mean by saying this?"

Niera wanted to faint. John's words were like stones hanging from her heart. She almost wanted to shut her ears to what was coming.

"Well... if this insane level 12 danger zone inducing creature existed, and I believe it does,... We would be standing on it right now."

Niera gave a light laugh and began staring blankly to the sky.

She was the one that was losing it!