Brunner eventually got up to stow away the last of the food. His house was all made of wood, but it was treated in oil inside and out and had an earthy smell reminiscient of nuts. The guest house was a smaller version of the same.

“Hey I know you’ve all got a long journey ahead tomorrow, but can I show you something before you go tuck in?”

The lads all looked at each other and then nodded, and soon they were geared up for the night air of late summer. Brunner only took them for a couple of minutes of walking into the forest before he had them all scale a bigger boulder than was usual. The sight that met them at the top blew them away.

Unbeknownst to the trio they were looking at a kauri tree. Towering over the rest of the forest, with branches higher than 50 meters into the air and extending far wider then seemed possible.

“The Lady of the Forest!” Laughed Brunner. “It’s my life’s work, I work on it every week.” He was beaming and the sight of the shocked faces on the group of lads was clearly very gratifying.

“It’s amazing, how did we miss it? It doesn’t seem possible. We’ve been walking this direction all evening while there was still more than moonlight to see by.” Kalle finally said.

Brunner tried acting casual despite his clear enthusiasm for the subject. “I’ve put up a simple Light-bending field. It’s not much, doesn’t beat Skills, but it keeps away undue attention, if people don't know to look closely.” He explained before giving them some room while he checked on his baby.

"He has to have a plan, to grow something like this in what, 20 years?" Oscar was the first to consider the implications. "Maybe he's just passionate about large trees?" figured Harold. Before they could speculate much further the [Arborist] returned.

“You lads want to see me give her a treat?” Naturally they all nodded. Harold was practically head-banging. What happened next stunned them, despite their mistaken belief that they’d prepared their horizons adequately.

Brunner grabbed his hatchets from his belt loops and started sprinting. His target seemed to be a rival tree, one that was encroaching on his darling's roots. He leapt up and his hatchets fell like lightning, carving through the tree like it was butter, except for the loud clacks.

The towering iron oak was known for its hardy wood, and this specimen stood over 30 meters tall, and nearly rivalled a kauri for width. It mattered not at all in front of this natural-born hatchetman. He started at the top, having jumped from branch to branch to land his swings, and the wood stacked gently in the slightly loamy earth surrounding the Lady’s roots.

It took him no more than twelve minutes. When he was finished the heavy wood lay spread around the giant and he returned to his audience, who were still figuring out what to say.

“She’ll have that turned to mulch in about a week... I’ve given her quite the appetite over the years.” Brunner chuckled darkly.

Oscar piped up. “Is that truly right? That looked like it was an iron oak you were hacking down.”

“Sure it was, but I have too many synergic Skills for that to matter much. For one I was using [Spirited Edge], and with the target being a non-magic tree it simply didn't have the resistances. My every strike ripples with nature affinity, so the trees natural defenses was nearly more help than detriment to my strikes. And combined with my [Nutritious Bark] the wood gets precisely the affinity needed to fit right in with the eco-system I’ve provided my queen with. It took me sixteen years to grow that oak, and that’s only possible because of my other Skills. I’ve even got a Spell I haven't quite figured out, although I got it much later on.”

“But how old is it, to have grown so large, do you just know what she needs? I’ve never even seen that kind of tree before.”

Brunner was beaming again from the boys’ collective interest. “She's about forty years, I'd have to cut her down to tell for sure though. I brought her here as a sapling. And it's more like I decide what she needs, or what her purpose is rather. If you were impressed by her branches then you should learn to sense her roots. She will be a queen one day. I brought her from afar, she requires quite the space which is why my farm is all the way out here. You need experience obviously, but I worked with some of the best on my travels and that helps just as much, the proper training." Brunner was really spilling the beans. The boys were surprised at his openness but their hunger for every word of the outside world and high level Skills kept their mouths shut.

"I’ve also got my Passive [Forester’s intuition] to guide my hand, if something new enters my part of the forest or one of my trees reaches its peak. I just get a feeling for all the life around me.” It was clear the lads had gotten lucky with the timing more than anything, the oak had let Brunner know it was time.

That made them all look back at the tree and reconsider the extensive canopy. Although they felt rather small, they all slept well at Brunner's farm that night.