Mid Afternoon - Late Fall : North Valtivar

Hours began to tick by like seconds as we ran through treant territory, winding our way through the countless small communities and climbing up the ever-growing treants.

After a while, their branches were each dozens of meters wide and had extremely flat tops, as if they were meant to be roads, but the thing I found most surprising was how the larger, central branches conjoined with those of other treants to form smooth bridges between them. "How does that even happen?"

"Hm? How does what happen?" Amara seemed to be in an excellent mood, but I couldn't tell why.

"Why do the larger branches have flat tops, and how do they form such neat connections with neighboring treants?" I glanced around as we dashed across the connected branches of two treants.

"Well, as they grow, they recognize the support humanoids give them, and change parts of their bodies to accommodate them."

-What?- "What possible help do the humanoids give them?" I was a bit confused and struggled to understand her reasoning at the time.

But Amara was quick to explain. "Treants, like all living beings, need nutrients to survive, right? But instead of water and good soil like regular trees, they take in mana."

"But isn't the ambient mana they absorb supplied by the Tree of Prayer?" -What does that have to do with humanoids?-

"Well, yes, it is, but almost all of that mana is unattributed. You can think of it like giving a tree water when the tree cannot pull the nutrients from it." A smile crept onto her face as she seemed to enjoy teaching me something. "The way humanoids help is by giving treants runes which they can use to supply themselves with whatever type of mana it may need to grow!"

-So treants can live purely off of mana?- I paused for a moment as it reminded me of myself. -I wonder if treants actually create their own nutrients like me though, or if it's simply a coincidence...- "So can they live without the runes then?"

The prideful look on her face only became smugger when I asked. "Of course, they can! But they will not grow nearly as big or as fast, since they will have to make do with the random assortment of attributed mana in the air."

-Huh...- Although the explanation made sense, at the same time, it made me question their intelligence. -They really are an odd mix of plant and animal, aren't they...-

The next half hour was wrapped in silence as I got lost in my thoughts, but I was pulled back into reality when we crossed onto the biggest treant yet. -Good lord, this thing is massive...-

We were about 700 meters off the ground, with the branch itself being nearly 70 meters wide and lined with buildings, ranging from restaurants and item shops to large armor and weapon smiths.

"Pretty beautiful, isn't it?" Amara wore a proud look, like a kid showing off a toy.

"Is this the northern market?" With a casual glance around, it was abundantly clear that this place wasn't like the other treant towns. -The store owners are all surrounded by strong people, and.. there really are a lot of half-breeds, aren't there...- Just in that small stretch of the market, I could see nearly a dozen of them. "It's quite an interesting place..."

"It sure is!"

Deciding the abnormal number of halfies was likely just a coincidence, I tried to look past it. "So, where is the inn?"

"It's a little farther in, but before that, let's get a bite to eat!"

-Huh? Why?- "You're hungry?"

She immediately stopped in her tracks before turning to me. "Yeah, thanks to a certain someone's alcohol, I feel like I could eat a house."

"Haha, alright, fair enough. Do you have any places in mind?"

"Nope, not at all. I'll just ask around real quick. If you want to look around, feel free." She glanced above me before a bead of sweat formed on her head. "You're pretty easy to find."

"Hm.. Alright then. I'll be around here then."

As she nodded, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd, so I climbed up onto a nearby roof to pet Ilios and pass the time. -I wonder if she can see my aura...-

Slowly getting lost in thought again, the next few minutes passed in a flash and Amara quickly returned.

"Hey, I found a spot to eat. It was a place an elder half-breed down there recommended, so it should be good." She pointed towards a bakery just down the street with a middle-aged man behind the counter.

"Alright, lead the way then." As I stood up with Ilios, Amara hopped back down onto the street and motioned us down. -She seems awfully excited... Is she that hungry?-

I thought of it as a joke at the time but little did I know, she was indeed that hungry.

"Haaaah..." *Thud* Amara slammed down her empty mug after chugging its contents.

"Are you alright? Have you not eaten in a few months or something?" I couldn't help but ask as I looked at her over the table full of plates and dishes. -She's eating like she just came off a fast...-

"If you hadn't let me drink that devilishly good alcohol, I wouldn't be like this!" She gave me a slightly angry glance before digging back into the food.

"Come on, how are you going to blame me for that? You didn't need to drink almost the entire barrel."

"You're willpower is just as freakish as your strength. Being able to resist the urge to drink it makes you the odd one..."

I wanted to laugh at her, but she wasn't wrong. -To be fair though, if I hadn't had a barrel and a half beforehand, it would have been far more difficult...-

"It has been a while since I have seen such a beautiful woman eat so much." The kind, older lady serving us the food glanced at me with a worried look as she set down another plate. "Is she okay?"

"She's just hungry. Sorry for making a scene." I glanced around to notice everyone's eyes on our table. "We will pay extra for the trouble."

"Ah, that's not necessary, sir." The poor lady started getting nervous when I mentioned compensation. "If you would like anything more, please just tell me, and I will prepare it for you."

Almost immediately, Amara pulled her head out of the chunk of meat in her hands. "In that case, do you have any tiger thigh left?"

"I believe so." The woman slowly started to break into a nervous sweat. "Shall I check for you?"

"If you could."

As the poor lady walked back into the kitchen, I got ready to say something but was interrupted by a door in the hallway next to the kitchen opening. -That aura... Is it another halfie?-

At that point, I wasn't too surprised since there had been dozens of them outside as well, but when the person in the room finally walked out, a massive mix of shock and confusion built up instantly.

It was an unfamiliar pale-skinned woman with scales scattered all over her body, but she had a very specific, aura-like mana coming from her head. -To think she would be here, what happened to her?! Wait before that, SHE'S ALIVE?!-

For the next minute or so, I watched as she talked to the older lady in the kitchen before eventually picking up a few dishes and getting ready to bring them to the tables, but as she finally came into the main area, she froze.

*clunk-splat* The bowls of soup and cups full of alcohol in her hands came crashing to the floor as her whole body tensed up.

As I thought about what to do with her though, Amara finally glanced over. "Hm? What was all that noi-" But the instant she saw the waitress, her pupils dilated and a palpable bloodlust filled the air around her.

The anger that she had been suppressing throughout the day rushed forward like a tidal wave. A tidal wave she couldn’t control.

In the next instant, she vanished from the table and dashed across the room, reaching for the waitress's neck.

-Aye!- Jumping up from my seat, I quickly caught up to Amara and caught her wrist. "I'm not sure why you're attacking her, but I can't let you kill my lab rat." But as I tightened my grip, my gut told me something felt off. -This isn't like her...-