“Welcome to Garden.”

Fraenis said as she bows and motions her hand to show Reinhard the village.

“This is how we have isolated ourselves from the outside world for the longest time.”

“I… uh…”

Reinhard didn’t know what to say. He was just too mesmerized to respond.

“A-are you sure it’s ok to show me this?”

“Of course! The World Tree accepted you, after all!”

“Eh?”

The unconvinced, surprised voice of a girl suddenly asks.

“Is that true, Fraenis?”

Finally, the source of the voice came out. It was a little girl, about half the height of Reinhard, coming out from one of the tree houses in disbelief.

“Yes! The branch is actually in his possession, in fact.”

Fraenis replies as she turns around to meet the little girl.

As soon as she said this, many dryad children and adult who overheard her began flocking him, all asking more or less the same question.

-“Is that true?”

-“He really has the branch?”

-“How did you do it? Did you just take it normally?”

-“Can I see it?”

-“Wow, you really were chosen?”

As Reinhard get flooded by multiple questions from multiple individuals, Fraenis stepped in to disperse the small crowd that has begun to gather.

“Okay everyone, back away! We’ll save the questions for later!”

Then she turns to Reinhard and whispers

“Sorry about that, they’re really enthusiastic about the branch after all... I say that but, I am too, actually. I’m pretty sure no dryad would just ignore the holder of the branch.”

She then took Reinhard’s hand and guided him away from the crowd, into the village.

Reinhard on the other hand, has completely shut down his brain. Everything had happened all so suddenly that there was no time for him to process things.

“What? Branch? Accepted by the World Tree? Huuuuuuuuh?”

“Well, here we are. The elder’s house.”

Fraenis, still holding Reinhard’s hand, stopped in front of a relatively bigger tree house. On top of the door are unknown characters carved onto the wood. It contained the same characters as the ones that was written on the paper.

“What do those writings say?”

He asked Fraenis while they were entering.

“Oh, that? It just says ‘Welcome’.”

*Ping!*

Suddenly, the pinging sound that Reinhard has already been accustomed to ringed. He brought up the interface to take a look at it.

[SYSTEM]

Acquired: [Dryad Writing 1] Passive Skill.

It seems like he had just learned the written language of the dryads.

"Oh, what about..."

He gave Fraenis the paper that he found on the table earlier.

“Then what does this say?”

She took it and looked at if for a few couple of seconds.

"..."

“Where did you find this? It says ‘Yo—“

“Oh, Fraenis! And who’s that human over there?”

Suddenly, they were interrupted by an elderly looking dryad sitting next to what looks like a carved-out stump.

Fraenis hurriedly gave the paper back to Reinhard and bowed to him.

“Elder, this is Reinhard. I brought him here because he is in possession of the branch.”

The elder immediately stopped stroking the leaves covering his shoulder. He proceeded to stand up, albeit looking like he might fall any second, and slowly walked up to Reinhard.

He looked at him straight into the eyes, as if he can look through Reinhard's very soul.

“Now, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, young man. You are troubled.”

He then slowly walked back to the stump that he was sitting on.

“Very well, ask away and I will answer to the best of my abilities. However, you must also answer my questions in return. Is that alright?”

The elder said as he sat down.

“I, uh… ok. So, first of all, where am I?”

“You are in the Garden, the last bastion for dryads such as us. If you’re asking for the whole area, you are inside the Forest of Sok.”

Reinhard mentally commanded the interface to show the map.

When he looked at the map previously, all it showed was the immediate surroundings and the revealed path that he travelled, but now, it has revealed and included the ‘Garden’ as well as the name of the forest, the Forest of Sok, on the top right corner of the map. It appears that he would need to manually discover the contents of the map himself.

“Is this the only civilization in the forest?”

“No. There are many civilizations in the Forest of Sok. Goblin camps, Orc tribes and Naga nest just to name a few.”

“Then, where can I find a human civilization?”

“Ah, you would have to go all the way to the north to find the realms of man. Oh, and to the east of us lies the elven city-state, Meir.”

“What do you want with me? What’s this branch thing? Why am I here?”

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

Acquired: [Interrogation 1] Passive Skill.

“Easy now, young man. We’re not enemies.”

The elder took a book from a bookshelf to his side. The book itself appears to be worn down and covered with vines, but that just seems to be the theme of this place, Reinhard thought.

He began flipping the pages of the book.

“Now, where do I begin?”

“…”

“Ah, well, for starters… We want you not to leave this village forever.”

“Whaaaaaat?”

“Hahahaha! I can already see your expression without even looking up to you.”

The elder laughed while continuing to read the book.

“The Branch of the World Tree that you currently possess is…borrowing the words of men, ‘dangerous’. You see, for countless millennia, blood has been continuously spilt by many races calling themselves ‘intelligent’, all for the sake of obtaining that branch... Or at least, taking control of it one way or another.”

“I’m going to spare you the details as I’m sure you’d want this to be as short as possible as well… We want you to stay here in the village, or at the very least, not leave the Forest of Sok, because the moment someone finds out you’re in possession of the branch, they would do everything in their power to make you serve them.”

Fraenis looks at the elder as he’s talking.

“Then… What do they mean when they say I’ve been chosen, or something like that?”

“The hut that houses the branch that you have just spent the night on cannot be entered by just anyone. It’s bound by magic that even we are unable to comprehend. Legends say it was Divine Magic... we don't know. Although, every once a couple thousand years, someone comes along who is able to enter. We don’t really understand how they were able to do that despite the length of our lifetime, so we just started saying they were ‘chosen’ or ‘accepted’ by the World Tree. Disappointing, isn’t it?”

The elder smiles as he reminisced about the past.

*Ping!*

[SYSTEM]

Acquired: [Possessor of the Branch of the World Tree] Title.

“What the hell is with that ridiculously long title? And why did it only appear now?”

“…”

“Is there even some benefit to it or is it just for aesthetics?”

[SYSTEM]

Title: [Possessor of the Branch of the World Tree]

+500 MP

“That’s all? That seems underwhelming for something so ‘dangerous’, isn’t it?”

“Then, what do I do with it?”

“Frankly speaking… we don’t know. It depends on the possessor. A thousand years ago, the last possessor of it fashioned the branch into a spear that could pierce the heavens themselves. A thousand years before him, the possessor used it as a materials for his armor that could withstand any attack, and even before that—”

“Wait a second, if they turned it into those things, then how come the branch still looks like this… like a branch?”

“Because once the possessor dies, the branch returns to the World Tree and a new one takes its place… in that very same hut.”

“Why in that hut specifically? And if that’s the case, wouldn’t the kingdoms just assume control of the hut and wait for the next branch?”

“As I have told you before, it is magic that we cannot comprehend. No one in all of Drasil, not the mages in their high towers, not the sorcerers dancing in the rhythm of mana, no one understand why it only always appears there. As for your second question, multiple attempts to seize control of this area have been made in the past, all for naught. This forest is too hostile for the outsiders, so the best that they can do is establish their kingdoms in the borders of it. In fact, the magic that hides this village is not only for the kingdoms, but also for the hostile monsters living in the forest.”

“So I just have to stay here?”

“Ideally, yes.”

“Until when?”

“Until you die.”

“Until I die, huh.”

"..."

“I’ll think about it.”

“Please do. Now, I believe it is my turn to ask questions?”

“Oh, right… I hope I don’t mess something up.”

“First, where did you come from?”

“Eh? That question already? Hold on, I’m not ready to answer that… Should I tell them ‘I came from another world’ or something like that? Crap, what do I say?”

“I, uh, well… I came from… somewhere very far away… I guess.”

"You fell from the sky, yes?"

"Ehhh? How does he... wait a second. Was he the reason I survived the fall?"

“So based on how your face looks right now, it appears I am correct? Hmm, I see. That coincides with the stories of how the ‘chosen’ ones appear. Very well.”

“Huh? What? You mean, the others are also like me? Eeeeeeh?”

“Wait, what do you mean it coincides with the others? Did the other ‘chosen’ ones also came falling from the sky?”

“Indeed, that is the one known common thing about them.”

Fraenis answers.

“Then, next question. What do you plan on doing with the branch?”

“Honestly, I have no idea.”

He answered immediately.

“I see, very well.”

The questioning lasted for longer than Reinhard had expected, and is mostly about information about him and such. It may have also been a test to gauge his character.

After the questioning, Fraenis brought him to an unoccupied tree-house and served him food after Reinhard’s stomach growled so loud that both Fraenis and the Elder laughed uncontrollably.

Needless to say, Reinhard completely devoured the food consisting of meat and vegetables, as it was the first ‘proper’ meal he had ever since coming here yesterday.

In the afternoon, he walked around the village and saw a woodworker carving things on a piece of log. This reminded him about his main class, the arcane artificer and one of its passive skills, which is wood working.

[SYSTEM]

[Wood Crafting 1] Passive Skill

The user is able to create works made out of wood. These can range from different kinds of objects, to weapons, armors and accessories.

“I almost forgot about this… Let’s see…”

[SYSTEM]

[Craft] Active Skill

The user creates objects in their own preference.

“Okay… Let’s use it.”

[SYSTEM]

What would you like to create?

[Accessory] [Armor] [Objects] [Weapons]

“Hmmmm, let’s make a weapon, since I currently don’t have any way to fight.”

[SYSTEM]

[Weapon Crafting]

[Melee] [Ranged] [Magic]

“What’s this? Weapon types?”

“Melee weapons are out of the question, since I’d imagine you would need the necessary strength to wield them. So it’s just between ranged and magic…”

[SYSTEM]

[Ranged Weapons]

[Common Wooden Short Bow]

[Common Wooden Long Bow]

[Common Wooden Arrows x10]

[Common Wooden Light Crossbow]

[Common Wooden Heavy Crossbow]

[Common Wooden Bolts x10]

“Hmm… Looks interesting but let’s see the magic weapons for now.”

[SYSTEM]

[Magic Weapons]

[Common Wooden Wand]

[Common Wooden Staff]

“Just two, huh… Well, considering the fact that I currently have 600 MP, magic weapons might be the one to go for now…”

“…”

“Alright, let’s see the wand.”

[SYSTEM]

[Common Wooden Wand]

-[Common-Grade Wood x1]

-[50 MP]

[CRAFT]

“Eh? You need MP to craft? Well, I guess that makes sense since it’s a magic weapon…”

“What about the staff then?”

[SYSTEM]

[Common Wooden Staff]

-[Common-Grade Wood x5]

-[Common-Grade Monster Orb x1]

-[100 MP]

[CRAFT]

“Hmmm… Yep, this one also requires mana, and more at that!”

“But there’s also that monster orb thing, what’s that?”

“Monster orbs are the monster’s life essences. You can get it from their bodies if you kill them.”

Fraenis suddenly says from behind Reinhard.

Reinhard was slightly startled, but not so much that it was noticeable.

“Do you like sneaking up on people?”

“Haaa? What do you mean by that?”

“…”

“Well, whatever. We’re going to go hunt some monsters, do you want to come? Maybe you can get that monster orb that you’re muttering about yourself…”