Alex sighed, he couldn't move, somehow he felt crowded by unfamiliar faces, not that he could turn his head and move.

Alex strongly suspected it was magic, his mind couldn't muster up the shred of will to even consider speaking, weird that.

A crowd of women was the only thing he could see, Vita was amongst this an assembled crowd directly facing him, or so he thought there were so many of them he couldn't be sure if the one he was looking at was HIS guide, and most of them could pass for sisters or cousins.

Massive trees dotted the landscape, Alex found himself a bit intimidated by the sizes truth be told, three stood out amoungst the masses.

There seemed to be three divisions among the lovely dryads, Alex assumed that's what they all were.

Three stood out and wore luxurious clothes which hugged their bodies yet hinted at the beauty beneath, these sat on simple high chairs, they were undoubtedly the leaders and Alex recognized none of them, still they all wore features similar to Vita.

The other division were greater in number, the stood in all seriousness, eye's forward facing the humans with faces carved of stone.

The last division of dryad's were the most excitable, it was where Alex thought he spotted the one he assumed was Vita, they mostly wore smiles, gossiped and tittering with controllable giggles.

"My two sisters and I have gathered you all here. You. Each and everyone one of you is a blessing to your world. Our contribution to the survival of you race. You will be charged with the survival of civilization in your world." The middle of the three important dryad spoke.

She went on to give a magnificent speech, about the turbulent future and how they would be an essential pillar to uphold their world.

Despite being unable to spot her mouth moving from this distance, Alex noted he had no problem whatsoever hearing her words.

She also warned them of the dangers of wanton murder, apparently such things were anticipated and had terrible consequences.

The universe was apparently undergoing some form of magical puberty and their organization was preparing them for the inevitable change.

The leader dryad went into a very detailed explanation of their powers, Alex would normally be more interested but he felt a little overwhelmed from everything.

"At the end, one of our beloved daughter's shall approach you, you may choose to forget these past few traumatic events if you choose. You will answer with a simple yes or no." Her voice was lovey, but she sounded tired.

In some silent command, the serious division and the excitable division split and came forward and together as one they curtsied.

Alex had guessed right, it was Vita he'd spotted, she held something in her hands, a chalice of some sort.

Alex noticed that he couldn't move his vision, he couldn't even see his nose, it was an awkward out-of-body sensation.

Alex didn't know how many people were about, finally Alex noticed those the dryad's gathered together, his eyes widened.

"Excellent, I will speak a bit more on a danger to you specifically." The dryad leader whom could pass as one of Vita's sisters spoke.

Once her voice started again the crowd of dryads reassembled.

"As your world tethers on the brink of change. Your leaders will seek to use you to their benefit. To bend your talents to their will. While there is nothing we can truly do to prevent this, I hope with sincerity that you turn our gift to works of joy and love." The leader seemed saddened.

Suddenly she straightened and took a moment to look around the crowd.

"It is with some hesitation that I give you a final warning. I feel it may be prudent to leave you ignorant, yet it will be made know later either way. There is a likely possibility some of you will be killed. You will die screaming and cursing our gift to you." Suddenly it was as if he face had aged with worry, the perfect image of a life-time of suffering.

There was a pause.

"The gift you hold, the life-blood of your body can be refined into a powerful elixir. Share this information only with those you trust for now, do not immediately let people know you are a healer. With your gift YOU will naturally live longer than the rest of your race, an elixir harvest from your blood could lessen the burden age on others, and even heal the most deadly of wounds. Greed will always triumph over caution, where a smart man would work with you, an evil would take it from you. Find somewhere safe, allies whom could shelter you. Work quickly, or you may be captured or killed." Vita's mother frowned.

Alex felt she was exaggerating, it's not like they stopped producing blood, they could simply just donate a bit of blood every once in a while, heck this was good news.

Now they could help better humanity! Perhaps they could even fight cancer or diseases which once crippled humanity!

Perhaps this new age spelt the end of organ trafficking, perhaps they could regrow or mend any organ the patient needs.

"With this I feel you are ready. There is still some time left before the trial ends. You may each choose to meet with the rest of those whom you underwent the trial with. Good luck and a thousand years of prosperity." Vita's mother sighed.

At the sound of her voice the world bled away in black.

*****

Blinking he was once more within Vita's dryad tree, it was easier to see Vita as the person, rather than the tree.

Besides, if Vita's mother lecture was anything to go by, this wasn't Vita's actual tree, just a dream replica.

Speak of the devil as she shall appear, out from the floor of a tree apparently.

"Hey Alex." Vita smiled.

Alex was still trying to process all the information he'd just receive from the her mother.

Opening his mouth he found himself unable to speak, as a matter of fact he couldn't move his lips.

Baring a golden chalice of sparkling liquid forward, Vita seemed happy yet awkward.

"Hehe. Sorry mom's commands. Yes or no?" Vita's eyes held a spark of mirth.

"No." The sole word was the only thing which escaped before his voice left him, odd as it didn't seem to resonate from his mouth.

"Great! A few are choosing to forget. I'm a bit busy right now, I'll see you later before everything's done!" Vita withdrew the chalice filled with shimmering water.

Vita faded into the floor of her tree, Alex blinked and sighed.

"That was weird." Alex realized he could now speak.

It was definitely nice, yet he had no one to speak to.

Not a big improvement, casually he frowned and looked down.

"Fuck." Alex sighed, his body was back to normal.

*****

Vita's avatar, or whatever it was, had vanished for what must have been over an hour, Alex was antsy from waiting, but instead he leaned lazily on an armchair provided in wait.

There was nothing much to do but wait really, Alex sighed again.

How long would this take?

"I'm sorry for not telling you everything before hand. The trial is used to make people mentally ready." Vita's voice made him jump.

"AY!" Alex flushed at his girly pitch.

Straightening he brushed his forehead and straightened casually trying to salvage what little dignity he had left.

A playful smile decorated her face, Alex had to admit it was a lovely face.

"I don't see how sending us into something like that and having us die helps us." Alex tried to keep his voice low, as well as calm his heart.

He wasn't terribly upset with Vita, she was clearly under orders from her higher ups, but the injuries the skeletal vampire inflicted upon him were still fresh.

"...I'm sorry. I don't like it either, but mother says it's been proven to work best. The invincibility power gives makes people careless. At least that's what she says. Don't forget everyone in your world will be undergoing a similar change as you." Vita looked away.

"Roger, either way what was that about life-blood?" Alex frowned.

"Life-blood....isn't like normal blood Alex. You have to refine it with via Alchemy. I recommend not trying it too often, it takes a vast quantity of blood, even with your body and power." Vita frowned distastefully.

"Oh. And how do I refine it?" Alex felt that was important, after-all if he wanted to desperately save someone he'd want to know.

Better to have and not want, than to want and not have. Right?

"...I. Do you really want to know?" Vita looked troubled.

"Yes. If someone important to me is dying in front of me, I have an obligation to save them." Alex couldn't express how serious that was.

Vita looked at his face, saddened, then sighed.

"Alright, just...try not to broad-cast this method, okay? There have been really bad things happen to healers because of it." Vita folded her arms, protectively.

"Roger." Alex nodded.

'What's all the weird vibes? It's just refined blood, I can heal myself. It doesn't matter how often I bleed.' Alex scratched his head, he felt the extra emphasis was a little over the top.

"Also done too much can lower your bodies efficiency, at least for a time. You'll need rest between each elixer Alex. You might have missed it in the dream, but your bodies' not immortal Alex." Vita stared at his eyes, more serious than she'd ever seemed before.

That definitely put a damper in his mood.

"I noticed." Alex frowned, dying, even in a dream wasn't a nice feeling.

"Did you really? Alex, I don't think you did." Vita looked at him full of concern.

He opened his mouth to deny it, but he felt it would be a bad move, might earn him another lecture and damn, could her mother go in detail about politics.

What did it matter if the world had to elect, or somehow choose a single representative to speak to their leader, it likely wouldn't affect Alex in the slightest.

So he simply shut his mouth, he knew that was usually a good idea with women, you couldn't win an argument, even if you were right.

There was a awkward pause, Vita looked at her feet and bit her lip, thankfully she broke it quickly.

"This will be a tad bit harder than regular training, Alex. I'm not sure if you're even ready for Alchemy." Vita sat down on the floor.

"How much harder?" Alex scratched his neck.

"A lot. It takes focus, or you spoil the regents. I'll just teach you the healing elixir though, so it might be a bit easier. Without a solid education you'll likely lose some potency though. Are you sure you want to try?" A conflicted look passed her face.

"Yes." Alex kept his exasperation from his voice.

"Alright." Vita sighed.

That's when things got real, Vita withdrew a dagger, Alex spooked and took a step back.

"Alright. One second." Closing her eyes a barrel rose and formed at Vita's bare feet.

Alex frowned, he was getting a really bad vibe from the barrel, it was two feet high and thick enough to sit on.

"Well. Let's start. Fill it." Vita held the knife out at Alex.