Year 173

Alvin remained in contact with Kei this time, and through him, we learned that the northern temples pretty much let the ‘kidnapping’ pass. With Alvin’s restored powers, he regained his harem and went back to his baby making ways. Though, from what he said, he claims he treats them better.

Alvin shared stories about his ‘mates’, the oracle girl, the priestesses, the adventurers and various elven companions. He had a thing for their long ears. Kei just sighed.

-

I was working on my own version of the parasite. Now that I learned that it’s possible to create parasites that can consume one’s mana, I thought about whether the parasite could be used for medical purposes, Consider that if a curse fed on a person’s mana spring, would the process of ‘drying’ out the mana cause the curse to die off?

Of course, this required another massive collection exercise, where my Valthorns gathered various types of plants, bugs and fungi, for my biolabs’ analysis. Many of them I’ve seen before at one point throughout the decades, and also had analysed them, but perhaps researching them and testing them for their mana consumption ability wasn’t something I considered. Truly, it is hard to imagine what could be done, until it was already done.

I also had to figure out how to create things that can ‘tunnel’ or ‘embed’ itself into another person’s soul spring. Like, how did the parasite do it? The soul realm’s meant to be a place where one doesn’t easily enter, unless you are a tree that dabbles in soul-related matters, like me!

I mean, could I put a parasite into another person?

So... I tested it. I had a bunch of criminals, hah, we still have those despite my near omnipresent surveillance state, especially those on death row, for experiments.

They failed... at first. The first few attempts didn’t go well, but then I soon started encasing the plants with a specially attuned mana. Just like when I attempted to fix Jura’s hand. It worked for a while... and then fizzled out because the tree-parasite samples I had couldn’t generate their own mana so they could not sustain the attunement.

Alright, I found one way to do it. How did the parasite do it? Did they start with the assumption that the parasite will eat up all ‘defenses’?

Is mana actually a form of soul defense emitted by the soul spring? Or is it something about the material which allowed it to do so?

In a way, this was similar to the rift mana attunement, since each rift had a particular resonance. It seemed to me that the demons are masters of mana frequencies, if their parasites could even resonate with their host.

I wanted to know whether there are natural equivalents, surely the demons are not the first to adopt this strategy in the world. So, I instructed my artificial minds to ‘datamine’ my large library of books, and my records of all the biological samples I had. My biolabs also started large scale breeding programmes of naturally occurring parasites. My goal was to cultivate mana-attuned parasites that could mimic the resonance-mimicking qualities of the demons.

At the same time, I revisited Hytreerion’s physical structure. I wondered whether it was a ‘materials’ thing. That perhaps the demonic ‘flesh’ is just naturally mana-sensitive and thus adopts the mana of its host. This meant my earlier success with the ‘capture’ of the demons was also due to their naturally ‘mana-sensitive’ state. My earlier difficulty with converting other objects may be due to the materials they are made of.

Hytreerion gained some levels during the battle with the demon king, but has since then stagnated. Levelling him up has been challenging, simply because he was too large to explore a dungeon. In fact, both of my Titans are massive. Patreeck’s physical structure, his [Grand Mind Tree] was also too large.

Could I get a ‘titan’ level performance without the size? I suppose they won’t be titans, then?

-

As calm and relief returned to the wider world, we were back at our technological research.

> How long will Vallasira take the girl away? < I asked Lilies one fine day, when they shared about their experience dealing with dead bodies decaying in the lake. Lilies revealed that they maintained a large number of flesh-eating creatures that lived in their lake, and they consumed the corpses given by the corpse.

I thought a few years was a bit long, but I guess it’s common for training arcs to be decade long.

> What was the longest period of peace you’ve seen? < I asked, curious.

Lilies responded, being rather technical about it.

> Huh. <

> What would you have done if that bomb was a little bit nearer? < I wondered how they would cope with the apocalyptic sludge.

> That would be bad. <

Lilies was rather nonchalant about the whole affair.

> Oh. I will have him visit. <

-

The Aivan church sent a message, delivered by another envoy. It merely said that the Triumvir needed to consult with their god, and that their divine consultation will take some time. Oh well.

-

Lumoof arrived with little fanfare. I wasn’t a fan of big welcoming ceremonies, and so I made a general ban, unless there was some kind of big victory or achievement. Lilies was incredibly understanding, somehow a part of them had those experiences, perhaps they inherited those memories from the dead people.

“I’ve actually never been here.” Lumoof explained as I saw the lake through his eyes. Slowly the many lily pads moved to form a bridge to the shoreline. Lumoof didn’t wear any particularly special attire, and his basic adventurer outfit made him look ordinary. There were thousands of other travellers, merchants that were waiting for the scheduled ‘landbridge’ to the larger pads that formed Lilies’ main city.

“Well, it’s my first time too.”

Lumoof was accompanied by two Valthorns who were also disguised as ordinary adventurers. They were just folks in the mid tier, in their level 50s and 60s. Honestly, in any real combat, Lumoof’s sheer levels meant he would be carrying their asses. They were in the middle of the line and finally it was their turn. Still, this was only possible after Lumoof mastered his control over the subdomain, else everyone would feel his overwhelming presence.

There were some folks checking papers at the entrance, and they collected a tax based on goods brought in. Lumoof paid, and they were waved in.

I felt the very faint wobbliness of the lilypad for the first time, and it was unnerving. I had a huge urge to get back to land.

“You don’t seem to enjoy it.” Lumoof mentally responded at my discomfort.

“I forget how being on a boat felt.” Centuries of being landbound...

The lilypad was very stable. The lake itself didn’t have large waves, and the lilypad’s movement was extremely smooth. Yet my senses still felt it, the subtle ripples at the edges. The lily pads closest to shore were smaller, but as one progressively approached the center, the pads became larger, and the buildings more massive. Some were carved out of the flesh of the lilypad itself. The largest lilypads were extremely thick and wide, and some of them naturally hollow, like lotus roots.

The citizens in the city expanded the hollowness to form rooms and living spaces, so the windows and doors were frequently roundish or oval, reflecting their origins. The taller towers were made from harvested materials, and they were a special class, the [Lilypad Builders]. They molded the lilypad itself into the supporting structures, such that the buildings are bonded to the lily.

There were some other Valthorns present, often on regular trade missions, or just training, As Lilies’ lake is well within the central continent, they were considered to be one of the ‘allied’ states, and were one of the few functionally independent states on the continent. After all, Lilies was one of my few immortal friends, and I didn’t want to drag them into the whole politics. Still, the citizens who lived on their lilypads were quick to shift gears and align themselves with me.

“Greetings visitors, I will be your guide today.” A lady in a dark grey vest approached us and said with a bow. She passed a card over, which indicated that she was one of the many sanctioned tour guides for the Lilypad City. Lilies said we could engage any of their day-tour guides, so we did.

Lumoof nodded. “Greetings indeed.”

She smiled, and led the way.

“So, is this a common arrangement, for a guide to explain everything?” Lumoof asked.

“It wasn’t before, but in the recent decades, there was a boom in travel by the nobility, and so we set up dedicated guides to benefit from the tourist money.” The guide explained with ease. “Many other sights around the continent have similar services these days, though we are one of the first, and our city clearly has way more history than the others.”

“Ah.”

“Lilypad city is one of the few cities in the world to have survived centuries of demons and monsters.” We know that. “So some of our practices are often strange to outsiders. The few things we will cover today, are our floating deaths, our lake harvests followed with a lakefood tasting and have lunch, a brief tour of the recent building sites to view the unique work of our [Lilypad Builders], and then lastly, a tour of the Lily Temples and the Deep Stairs.”

I was familiar with the practice of floating deaths, it was something we researched back when we designed our own death ceremonies. Yet, to see the dead floated out to the lake and then sunk for myself is still something. I had heard of the flower garlands and accompaniments that went with corpses, but to see how varied it was, and how wealth determined the size of the boats that carried the corpse was also eye opening.

“It’s a fascinating ritual.” Lumoof said. “I presume this is Lilies’ method of harvesting souls?”

“Yes.” Lilies was a soul tree, and indeed, it harvested souls when the corpses were sunk into the lake. Indeed, now that I am in the Giant Lilypod City itself, I could feel Lilies presence, it was everywhere. In a way, the lake itself is Lilies, not just the city. Their roots therefore must cover the entire lakebed for it to be so.

Then, we had lunch. A collection of fishes, some small lotus plants and seeds, stir fried. After that, we visited one of the newer lily pads, and walked their magical rope-bridges.

I was afraid of the rope bridges. The swaying when the two massive lily pads moved so subtly made me feel dizzy. Lumoof wasn’t, and yet he noticed my discomfort. “I suppose a tree must feel uncomfortable with such movement.”

“Yes.” I really felt dizzy, and Lumoof made it quick.

The Lilypod Builders were part-druid, part-builders, since their little rituals and movements resembled that of druids, where they called on magic to ‘grow’ the Lilypad into the supporting pillars. These were the beginners. The lady soon brought us to a beautiful demonstration of a master, where the lilypad itself seemed to bulge up and then peel apart to reveal a beautifully completed structure.

Then, the Lily Temples. It was located on the largest, and some say the oldest lily pad. A massive structure molded from the flesh of the Lily Pad itself, it was an imposing, ominous sight.

“This is where the King convenes with the Will of the Lake.” The guide explained briefly.

Lumoof nodded. “So this is their valley.”

“Indeed.” Here, I could feel Lilies’ presence was strong, but not the strongest. I believe their true body somewhere beneath the lake, no, it’s spread throughout the lake, they are the collective will derived from the mass of roots and tubes underwater. Smart, and explains how they survived for so long.

“Could we go in?” Lumoof asked the guide, and the guide shook her head. “Access is only for those chosen by the will.”

It was then a strange, masked man approached the group. “Guide, the Will have spoken that this man will be allowed entrance.” He wore a mask that formed the shape of a fish, but it was a fearsome one with massive teeth and two black eyes. Strange.

Lumoof nodded but asked about the two accompanying Valthorns. “My friends?”

“Only you.”

This time, the fishmask man led us into the temple. There was nothing inside, except a large spiral staircase that led downwards into the lake bed. We walked down... and the fish masked man stopped.

“This is where I stop. Please go ahead. The will awaits.”

The staircase got narrow, and the walls closed in. Lumoof had to keep going. But it kept going and going down, and it took an hour to get to the very bottom, where we reached a large room at the end. It was very dark, but then a faint magical light turned on, and revealed thousands of skulls, overgrown with roots. Then, all the thousands of skulls moved, each of them had one little fire in their eye socket.

It spoke in unison, in a choirlike voice quite familiar to me. The skulls rattled and their jaws moved.

“We welcome the avatar of the tree, to the roots of our ancient body.” This wasn’t their true body, but perhaps this was close enough. If their intent was to scare the living hells out of anyone, this was pretty effective. “We are made from the minds and memories of the thousands that died, and we cull and select the best of the dead to form us.”

Lumoof nodded, here, Lilies’ presence was overwhelming, but he was unfazed. He too, was already a step into the divine.

“We thank you for coming, and we wish to show you an item. Something we found recently, when it washed up on our shores.” Lilies said again, and the skulls shuffled around. Then, one of the roots moved and dragged out a large chunk of broken wood. At a glance, it looked like any other driftwood, but when we examined it in greater detail, we noticed strange marks.

It’s a set of symbols.

“It’s etched with words we do not understand. Runes.”

“It’s from another ancient time.”

“Yes. But we fear to reveal it to the wider world. So we keep it here.”

Lumoof examined it, and then pointed at a row. “These symbols I've seen once, in Margmar. I can’t remember where ..” But I could, and I quickly tapped my memory. It matched those on the temples.

“Oh. You have seen them!” Lilies said in surprise, and this time, I sent the images through my rootnet. Lilies received them.

Still, I had so many questions. Why would it appear on a wooden log? Unless it’s only disguised to look like a log? Perhaps it’s a trick. The fact that the log survived for so long unnoticed meant it wasn’t meant to be noticed. How did Lilies pick it up? “What made you notice it?”

“When it wouldn’t break when we wanted to consume it.” Ah. Lilies consumed driftwood, that’s something I didn’t know. When the driftwood resisted, they examined it closer. A simple discovery by accident.

“I see.” I spoke through Lumoof. Lumoof held the log in his hands, his strength augmented by his levels. “We will have to put these through a biolab.”

Lumoof then said. “I feel a faint presence... something divine.” I felt nothing, but then Lumoof was the priest and he was a lot more sensitive to such things than me. No, actually, if priests are naturally more sensitive to divine energies, would they be able to detect the presence of mind-alteration from the gods?

“We feel it too.” Lilies responded, one of the skulls moved. “Which is why we kept it here and do not speak of it. This area is shielded by our strongest magics, and yet, we do not even know whether the gods still can see it.”

“So what if they can see it?” I asked. I mean, so what if they can see? I do not fear the gods, clearly their powers are restricted if all they can do so far is summon heroes, send divine messages and some subtle mind alterations. “Their powers are weak.”

“Do not take them lightly, ages ago their powers were strong, if not stronger.”

“Then what happened?”

“We do not know.” Are the gods fading? No. I somehow don’t think so. There must be something else. One of the skulls moved, and some skeletons appeared. They took the driftwood. “Do you have a way to take it back? Without it ever touching the sunlight? It is an old saying, that all things that are under the sky can be seen by the gods.”

“Can’t we just hide it in a bag?” Lumoof asked plainly.

“Preferably not. Their eyes can see through magical items, but strangely, not through thick layers of earth.”

“How strange that the gods are stopped by mere dirt.” Lumoof said. “Perhaps it is a lie.”

“If they could see it, they must have noticed when it floated on the lake.” I thought briefly. “But yes. If you let us create a tunnel directly here, we could transport this log secretly.” Out of respect, just like with Reefy, my roots did not travel through or under the realm of other spirits. So my roots merely connected to Lilies at the edges.

“Let’s make the tunnel.”