Year 174

We managed to transport the log, secretly, through a chain of tunnels, never once close to the surface back to Freshka. It took almost a week of getting my best underground beetles to carry it and walk the distance. I had Lumoof escort the log the entire way, just in case there’s any divine shenanigans, but thankfully, none.

The log itself was the bigger problem. We studied them in underground labs, so that they never get anywhere near the sky. The log... revealed nothing. Though we detected the faint presence of the divine in the log itself, there was nothing to see.

We didn’t give up, so we conducted more tests. It’ll take a while, so, inspired by my meeting with Lilies, I decided it was a worthwhile idea to explore and meet with the other spirits.

-

The wind of the North was cold, and I felt the sensation of the cold winds on Lumoof’s skin. I was unaffected, and by extension, so was Lumoof. I could share my [Main Body Environmental Adaptation], and though the weather didn’t affect me, I did not enjoy the feeling of sailing at all. The wobbling of the ship as it crashed into the rough waves of the northern seas, it was an uncomfortable, nauseous feeling, and so I often disconnected it.

But we were getting nearer. The waves got smaller, as we closed in on the island covered in ice and snow. Massive ice chunks floated all around us, and everyone kept their eyes open for monsters. But Lumoof’s presence scared them away.

“Travelling with a small ship this far north is normally dangerous.” Johann said to Lumoof. It’s a really small crew, only 10, all my high levelled Valthorns, all given a familiar from my [Court of the Deitree]. Just so that I can pull them back if shit went south.

The ship had been magically reinforced. Two of the crew members were a mage and a druid, and they used their powers to strengthen the hull, and create a protective sphere to withstand the impact of the high seas.

Lumoof’s eyes glowed, as I shared more of my powers, and took in more of the environment. The subtle presence of another being at the Domain level should be easily detected, and indeed, it pricked my senses like little snowballs hitting an imaginary skin.

The Frozen Tree.

“It should be there.” Lumoof pointed, our domain senses led the way. Already, we saw monsters prepared to greet us. Most of them level 60s to 70s. Giant White Bears, Wolves. Birds. Hundreds of them waited, but did not attack.

The small ship closed in on the shores of the island, hidden away in the north. This was the home of the Frozen Tree, land of the master of frost. The Tree itself is hidden in a thick blizzard, and the island perpetually dark from the snowstorms.

It was essentially a little no-go zone for most adventurers, and the Frozen Tree promised no gifts, no rewards for reaching it. Only the insane, or those who wanted to meet spirit trees, like Gerrard, would make the journey.

“Do we wait here?” The mage and druid asked, as they surveyed the hordes of beasts that observed our arrival. Edna looked around. “Lumoof? Aeon?”

“I think I’ll go alone.” Lumoof said. “At most, with Edna.”

Edna thought about it momentarily. “I don’t see why they need to wait here. If anything happens Aeon can just warp us back. Let’s all go. We can leave the ship.”

“Alright.”

The monsters did not dare to approach us, here, even though both Edna and Lumoof restrained their domains. We decided to do so, as we wondered whether the Frozen Tree would find it offensive that we came with our domains pressing against theirs. Best to play nice.

We could feel the gaze of the various beasts, all staring. Waiting.

Perhaps they were waiting for a signal from the frozen tree, whether to attack, or leave us be. This time, unlike their earlier excursion to the main northern islands, this island was far away from civilization, so everyone came fully equipped. Magical equipment, clothing and weapons.

The druid waved his wooden staff, and a bubble of comfort sprung out around us. An ability called [Bubble of Home], which simulated our home environments and kept out the cold. It drained at his mana a little bit, unlike my natural passive.

The walk was uneventful, a climb up what was a rather gentle, snow covered slope, and then, a crater in the middle surrounded by a perpetual blizzard. As we approached, snowballs and icicles smashed into Edna’s shield.

“Doesn’t seem like it welcomes us.” Edna said.

“It is just a challenge. Tree spirits are flighty, after all. Spirits won’t let just anyone approach it so easily, well... except Lilies, but that’s an exception.” The druid responded. Even then, Lilies’s true body is hidden. Only the surface was exposed, and that was hardly Lilies’ true body.

We waited momentarily, as I channeled my senses through Lumoof. I felt a presence that now permeated the entire snow-filled crater. Once we went a little further, it was likely we were within range of the Frozen Tree’s full abilities. Edna noticed too, and quickly signalled everyone to prepare, and no talking.

We pushed ahead, the presence of the frozen tree more pronounced. The little metaphorical snowsballs that gently touched on my domain, was now a torrent of snowballs. The other members of the expedition were clearly feeling uncomfortable, as they lacked the ability to shield themselves from a domain’s oppression completely.

Still, we pressed on, and the blizzard was not a huge problem. We saw more beasts, all of them either white or a light grey, and they all kept their distance. Where were the ice giants that Gerrard saw?

Eventually, we came to a large frozen lake, with a massive ice sculpture in the shape of a tree in the middle. It was smaller than me, for sure, but through Lumoof’s eyes, it’s still an imposing sight. It’s a little like seeing a towering Christmas tree for the first time as a little kid. It seemed the rest of the Valthorns shared the sentiment, as they all gawked at the beautiful ice sculpture for the first time.

The frozen tree. Well, I channeled my senses through Lumoof and my spiritual vision saw that the ice sculpture is... hollow. It’s just a magical creation. The real spirit is beneath... Is that a rock? No. I wasn’t sure what it was, hidden underneath all that ice and water.

Is it really a tree?

The ice tree changed shape, and grew, and then a human shaped ice appeared.

“Visitors.” It said, strangely human.

I thought I should do the greetings, so I spoke through Lumoof. “Greetings, I am Aeon, and I’m speaking through my Avatar, Lumoof. These are my companions for the journey to your island.”

“Greetings. What do you seek here, Aeon?”

“I merely wish to meet and speak to a spirit I’ve heard of, after all these while.” I suppose I could locate the elven tree spirit too, but it seemed that it was lost a few decades ago during the Rottedlands era.

It didn’t respond, and for a brief moment, I felt like we were magically touched.

[Domain has blocked attempted scrying...]

Edna gave me a look that told me she got it too. At that moment, we felt the entire island shake. The tree of ice grew, and then two giants made of ice emerged next to the tree.

“You are not heroes.”

“We are not heroes.” I answered, or repeated. The two ice giants were imposing, but I thought we could take it. Edna didn’t look too bothered. “But I believe you have met Gerrard.”

“...Gerrard?” The ice-sculpture seemed to be struggling to recall. “Oh. That one. The one who came with the fragment of ancient times.”

“Yes. I’ve come to meet, share, and perhaps, learn of what you know.” I answered honestly. The part about going against the gods, that’s a secret for another day. I needed to know where this spirit stood.

The ice sculpture thought, and then pointed at Edna and Lumoof. I felt another attempt at scrying, and it was more powerful. Again, [Domain has blocked attempted inspection]. “This day came a lot earlier than I expected. Only the two of you may stay.”

“Alright.” The eight retreated, and then I activated my recall ability. In an instant they were all warped back to the valley. Still, the sudden transportation across the continents caused half of the eight to vomit, and the remaining half looked incredibly uncomfortable.

-

Edna looked around, and the blizzard’s intensity increased. The Frozen Tree said, and two ice chairs appeared. Edna sat, and so did Lumoof.

“Where should we begin?” It asked. “No. The right place to start is... who are you, Aeon?”

“I am a Tree Spirit of Freshka.”

The frozen tree seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Allow me to elaborate. A tree spirit does not behave the way you do. From what I have heard, you seem to have an expansionist streak, and your growth, relative to other tree spirits, have been exceptional. I also have not detected your presence in the world until... 70 years ago, and it seemed with the passing of every demon king, your presence is clearer in the fabric of the world.”

Fabric of the world. This was the second spirit to have said it, after Lilies. How do they see this fabric? Is it that sensation of prickling? I’ll have to ask Lilies some day.

“Something about you is foreign. It’s almost as if you have a bit of mortality in you.”

“I have memories of another life. A mortal life.”

There was a long, awkward silence. Maybe it wasn’t very long, perhaps just a minute of silence where we could hear the wind howling around us. “Ah... an accident.” The Frozen Tree answered. “...Like a part of me.”

What.

Suddenly, a different voice appeared and asked. “Did they make you roll a wheel, or was it a dice? Or have you picked a card from a deck?”

“...a wheel.”

“I see. Let’s properly introduce ourselves. I’m Aispeng and Aria.” The Frozen Tree answered. “I am what they call a merged soul.”

Like the wolf and the shaman?

“It’s where a local object plays host to a foreign soul, and then, perhaps due to that soul’s weakened situation, is absorbed by the host.” That strange voice answered. “Aispeng, is the will of the ice crystal, and I am Aria, the will of a former... traveller.”

“Aria?”

“Yes. We are also not a tree, we are actually an ice crystal.” That strangely female voice answered. I wondered if Alexis fused with me back then, would this be the outcome?

“I guessed that, from how the entire crater is filled with your presence.”

“Anyway, it is strange and perhaps fate to meet someone like me. So, allow me to being explaining how I got here.” Aria answered.

Lumoof just nodded on my behalf.

“I wasn’t a hero but when I got sent to this world, I lucked out on my card draw and could reincarnate as a mage, a half-elven mage. So, even though I didn’t have many advantages, I still fought the demons together with the heroes. Mainly because I thought they might have a way to get me home. They are heroes and they have fancy powers. Thinking back I still felt this was really silly to me. We defeated the first demon king, but then I got overconfident and died when we faced the second demon king.”

Once more we just nodded.

“I thought I died, but the fates were cruel and decided to bind my spirit to a lump of ice and crystals. I spent the first 200 years growing as a glacier on this very island, consuming whatever animals or fish in this area. That’s me. How about you?” Aria’s voice was strange, compared to Aispeng which sounded more shrill and alien.

Her story sounded quite similar to Kei, and in Kei’s case, she turned into a golem.

“...but you were not a hero? How did you keep up?”

“I was not, but I didn’t fit in with everyone else either. The heroes were the only ones who knew of home, so I stuck with them. Silly me, I thought I could try to be useful with my magical skills, but I was wrong. The demons detonate themselves after their loss. In fact, this island is where I died along with the other heroes. The bodies of those heroes are down there, beneath all this ice.”

I see.

“Well, how about you? How’d you end up as a magical tree that’s now a demigod?”

“I died, rolled the wheel, and got a tree as my start. Spent half a century doing nothing but watch the world burn, really. I spent another few decades in various stages of burning and regrowing, but I got stronger over time.”

“Wait. You were directly reincarnated as a tree? That meant... You kept the fragments, right?”

“...yes.”

“That... that explains a lot. I lost mine when I died the second time, and it took centuries just to level. How many did you have? Three? Five?”

“... a lot more.” I didn’t see a reason to share the exact number.

“I see.” Aria answered in a knowing voice.

“So how long have you been stuck here?”

“Maybe.... Three thousand years Or more? I lost count. The days just flash by.”

“How’d you ‘see’ and ‘talk’?” I mean, the first problem I had was actually seeing and talking. How did a lump of ice overcome those problems?

“Uh... magic?”

“What kind of magic?”

“I received a skill for an Ice-Form somewhere around level 50 or so, and my talking and seeing problems went away then. Before that all I had was vibrations as my ice expanded, and I essentially saw the world through vibrations as my ice expanded.”

Oh. I suddenly didn’t feel so bad about my half year of misery.

“So yeah, since I had absolutely no sense of time, I have no idea how much time has passed, other than people dying and heroes dying all the time. Thankfully I still received the notifications.”

“You could count the number of demon kings and multiplied by 10. That’s a good approximation.”

The Frozen Tree thought for a while. “I don’t know. My notifications were all lost.”

“You don’t have a clock?” I mean, that was the puzzling part to me.

“No, I don’t.” Huh. A timer isn’t a default skill for them? Maybe it is because trees have an inbuilt biological clock to respond to the seasons thus it is a necessary thing for a tree, but for a lump of ice, the time or year doesn’t really matter.

“So...”

“So, anyway, now that’s out of the way, I can tell you what I know. I honestly don’t know much about the world because I’ve been freaking stuck here!” Aria complained rather childlishless. “Aispeng keeps my personality and soul asleep almost all the time, except when dealing with visitors.”

I soon learned that the Frozen Tree is the metaphorical equivalent of a hermit. It lived here, alone, and didn’t intentionally seek out others. Apparently, its earlier experiences with people left it a little scarred, so it decided to just exist quietly, away from everyone.

It did, however, make a lot of ice-weapons infused with a bit of its’ crystal, which it distributed to those who it saw as worthy. Those ice-weapons functioned like an equivalent of a familiar, and allowed Aispeng to gain a bit of experience every time the weapon was used to slay monsters. Over time, it got stronger. The Frozen Tree survived monsters, demons, and even defeated a few demon champions, and gained its domain after about 1,300 years. Relatively fast, thanks to its’ ice-weapons circulating out there in the world.

“I don’t think the weapons I make can do that.”

“Are you sure? Have you tried?" Aria asked.

"I made a lot of weapons before. Pretty sure they don't give me experience when used."

"Strange." Aria responded. "But the system is confusing like that..."

"So... you are from earth?" I asked.

"Earth?"

"Yes, earth."

"No. I believe my homeworld is called Bumi."

"...I see." It suddenly occurred to me that the heroes may all come from alternate earths. If so, truly the idea of defeating the demons at the source may be too tall an order. The first order should be to hide the world away and make this world safe. A counterattack can be made if we have a safe ‘home-world’.

Aispeng and Aria learned of the world from its limited interactions with heroes and adventurers that came to see it. Aspen harbored a bit of distrust of the heroes after some tried to attack it after it gained its domain. It was by sheer luck that it managed to hide most of its presence deep underground, that the heroes could not fully destroy it. Heroes clearly don’t have exceptionally good detection skills, their abilities have all been counter-demons. But what if one did?

“I realised that the gods also have short term memories. Once the next generation of demon kings came along, they seemed to have forgotten about me. ”

“Hmmm...” Why do they do that, then? What’s the point of sending heroes after someone who ascended? And then forget? Is it really because of short term memory, or something else at play? The system itself?

“But they didn’t send anyone after me?” Edna wondered.

“Maybe they didn’t realise you gained a domain. The gods are not exactly a responsive bunch. They only seem to react to certain types of events, like demon kings... and perhaps they only target non-humanoid beings who gained their domains.”

Hmmm... Are the gods therefore speciesist? Do the gods dislike non-humanoids?

That certainly is a possibility. If Reefy were to gain a domain one day, it would have to face heroes? I shuddered at the thought, because that would just cause Reefy to interpret all heroes as enemies and it would react violently at all subsequent hero encounters. Reefy isn’t the type to back away from a fight, and Reefy taking the aggressive role could be a point of conflict in the future.

There wasn’t much else to talk about, at least, not during our first meeting. I would like to continue speaking to another fellow spirit, and Aispeng already had an item to create that sort of communication channel. The ice spirit gave us a large mirror made of ice.

“This is a magical ice-screen. It’s synchronised to an ice screen here, so what appears on the other side will appear here.”

Gerrard should have asked for this. But I suppose the heroes with their default chatgroup functionality wouldn’t need it. Anyway, Aispeng also gave us a few of its ice-weapons as souvenirs, and on my end, we also brought a mix of herbs, our own wood weapons and stuff. I would take the weapons home for studies on how to replicate the experience gained from weapons. My suspicions were that it had a familiar in the form of the weapon.

The return was easy.

-

Stella returned, and she was different. She aged, quite significantly. She came back on Vallasira’s back, her body covered in scars. She lost one arm, and one of her legs had a stub. Her face was partly burnt.

“What in the world...”

It was Vallasira who spoke.

Kei and Lausanne came to see her, and were shocked.

“40 years I’ve spent on the other worlds, and she gave Kei and Lausanne a hug. I missed you two.”

“What is it like, in the other worlds?” Kei asked.

“It’s a long story, and right now, I yearn for the comforts of... home.” Stella responded.

Kei frowned at the word. “This isn’t home.”

“I thought about it during those 40 years there, and I believe I truly found myself here in this world. I’d say its home enough.”

Still, I let the three girls catch up, and checked on the zaratan. Vallasira nodded.

>Thank you. < Well, I would interrogate Stella later.