Chapter 132: At the heart of the World Tree 1

The next morning, Adam opened his eyes shortly after sunrise.

For once, no one needed to rush them.

They still had a long road ahead, but their destination was now in the same forest.

A few dozen minutes later, the three travelers were ready.

Breakfast was intentionally simple.

Bread.

Eggs.

A few slices of meat.

Fruit.

And of course...

Coffee.

Adam put down his cup.

"I have the feeling that coffee has officially become mandatory on this trip."

Elaria took a leisurely sip.

"It’s convenient."

Lyriana nodded.

"And good."

Adam smiled.

"Vespera is going to start a coffee cult when we get back."

Elaria thought seriously.

"Shiora will probably try to market it first."

Adam froze.

"Don’t give her any ideas."

"She’ll get them without me."

"...That’s true."

They finished quickly.

A few minutes later, they retrieved their Windsteeds.

All three mounts had fully recovered.

They even seemed eager to get back on the road.

Adam mounted.

Lyriana naturally took the lead.

Elaria brought up the rear.

Then they left the outpost.

This time...

They truly entered Sylvaris.

At first, Adam didn’t notice a huge difference.

The forest was certainly magnificent.

The trees were much taller than any he had ever seen.

The foliage was incredibly dense.

And the vegetation seemed almost everywhere to be in perfect health.

But after less than an hour...

Things really started to change.

Mana.

Adam could feel it more and more clearly.

His Mana Body was reacting almost constantly.

The energy in the air was much denser than in the area around Valoria.

And the further they went...

The greater the difference became.

Adam took a deep breath.

"This is strange."

Lyriana slowed down slightly.

"What?"

"I almost feel like breathing is different here."

Elaria nodded.

"That’s normal."

"Because of the mana?"

"Mainly."

Adam focused.

Even without meditating...

His body seemed to naturally absorb a small amount of the surrounding energy.

"It really does get denser with every kilometer."

Lyriana smiled.

"We’re getting closer to the source."

They continued.

A few villages gradually appeared.

And that’s when Adam discovered something that surprised him almost as much as the mana.

Houses.

Or rather...

Trees.

He slowed down abruptly.

"Wait."

Lyriana turned her head slightly.

"What?"

Adam pointed to the village.

"Are these really houses?"

Many of the dwellings hadn’t been built in the traditional way.

Originally...

They were trees.

Gigantic trees.

Their trunks had been shaped.

Not simply hollowed out.

The openings seemed to have been formed to preserve the tree’s vitality.

Doors.

Windows.

Balconies.

Staircases.

Some dwellings occupied multiple levels within a single trunk.

And yet the tree continued to grow.

Adam gazed at a particularly imposing dwelling.

"You literally live in the trees."

Lyriana smiled.

"Some of us."

"How do you manage not to kill them?"

Elaria replied,

"Most of these dwellings are crafted using plant magic."

She indicated a trunk.

"We don’t simply remove the wood. We guide the tree’s growth to create the necessary spaces."

Adam understood.

"So the house grows with it."

"Exactly."

He looked around again.

The few structures not built directly in the trunks were nestled in the branches.

Platforms.

Cabins.

Entire houses suspended in the trees.

And above all...

Bridges.

Dozens of bridges connected the trees to one another.

Some were simple.

Others were wide enough for several people to walk side by side.

Adam even spotted a small cart moving between two enormous trees.

"Okay..."

He looked up.

"That’s new."

The further they went...

The taller the trees became.

Those at the outpost had already seemed immense to him.

Here...

Some trunks were several tens of meters in diameter.

And then even more.

The branches almost formed a second floor above the forest.

And yet...

It was still only the beginning.

They passed through several other communities.

Each time, Lyriana and Elaria were recognized.

The inhabitants bowed.

Some greeted them directly.

Others simply kept their distance.

Adam also noticed that the presence of a human among them attracted a lot of attention.

But no one came to stop them.

Their group continued.

Then, after several hours...

Adam looked up again.

There was something strange.

Between the immense trees...

He sometimes glimpsed large dark areas.

Shapes far too thick to be ordinary branches.

At first, he thought they were other trees.

But that didn’t fit.

He concentrated harder.

Eyes of the World helped him.

The shapes continued.

Again.

Again.

They literally stretched for miles through the forest.

Adam slowed down.

"Wait..."

Lyriana turned around.

"Did you notice?"

Adam pointed to the sky.

"That."

A smile appeared on the dark elf’s face.

Elaria also looked up.

"Yes."

Adam followed a gigantic structure that seemed to disappear behind hundreds of trees.

"Are those branches?"

Lyriana nodded.

"The physical branches of the World Tree."

Adam remained silent.

Then he looked around.

The branch he was observing seemed to cover an absurd distance all by itself.

And they still hadn’t reached the trunk.

"Wait."

He turned his head toward Elaria.

"You just said ’physical branches.’"

"Yes."

"Why specify ’physical’?"

Elaria adjusted her glasses slightly.

"Because the World Tree has two forms."

Adam listened immediately.

"A physical body."

She then looked up.

"And a much larger spiritual structure."

Adam remained silent.

"Much larger how?"

Elaria thought for a few seconds.

"It’s difficult to speak of an exact size."

She pointed to the ground.

"The World Tree’s physical roots already extend extremely far."

Then she continued:

"But its spiritual network covers practically the entire planet."

Adam frowned.

"The entire planet?"

"Yes."

He instinctively looked at the ground.

"So its roots are under Valoria as well?" "

"Spiritually, yes."

She paused briefly.

"And some extremely deep physical branches also reach very distant regions."

Adam tried to imagine the scale.

Impossible.

Elaria continued:

"The further you get from the center, the deeper the main roots go."

"Which explains why no one necessarily knows they’re there."

"Exactly."

Lyriana interjected:

"Here, we’re close enough that many of them rise near the surface."

Adam looked up again.

"And the branches?"

Elaria replied:

"The physical branches cover a large part of Sylvaris."

She gestured toward the immense structures visible above them.

"The spirit branches, however, extend much farther. A large part of the continent lies under their influence."

Adam remained silent.

Then another question came to him.

"And you said that mana becomes denser as you get closer to the source."

"Yes."

"So the World Tree produces mana?"

"Not exactly."

This time, Elaria seemed particularly interested in the question.

"Mana doesn’t originally come from our planet."

Adam raised a slight eyebrow.

"Where does it come from?"

She pointed to the sky.

"From space."

Adam remained silent.

"Seriously?"

"Yes." "

She continued:

"Space contains immense amounts of energy in various forms. The World Tree has the ability to capture some of this energy, transform it into usable mana, and conduct it to the planet."

Adam looked around.

The trees.

The ground.

The gigantic branches.

Everything suddenly took on a new meaning.

"So the roots then serve to distribute the mana."

Elaria nodded.

"Exactly."

"To the entire planet?"

"Yes."

Adam thought for a moment.

"So the closer you get to the World Tree..."

"The higher the concentration."

"And the further away you get, the more energy has already been distributed."

"Exactly."

Adam smiled.

"Now it makes a lot more sense."

He looked again at one of the gigantic branches.

"So this tree is practically a planetary power plant."

Lyriana frowned slightly.

"A what?"

Adam considered the translation.

"A structure that receives energy, transforms it, and distributes it."

Elaria nodded immediately.

"In that sense, yes."

Adam sighed.

"And no one tries to control it?"

This time, both elves looked at him.

Lyriana replied:

"Rarely."

"Rarely?"

Elaria continued:

"Because almost every civilization understands what damaging the World Tree would truly mean."

Adam understood immediately.

"Less mana."

"Potentially much more serious than just a local decrease."

She gestured toward the forest.

"A major disruption to the World Tree would gradually affect the entire planet."

Adam grimaced.

"So attacking the World Tree is tantamount to declaring war on everyone."

Lyriana smiled slightly.

"Exactly."

"Even enemy kingdoms?"

"Yes."

Elaria added:

"Nations that hate each other can temporarily cooperate if the World Tree is truly threatened."

Adam nodded slowly.

"Makes sense."

Then a thought occurred to him.

"Then why do the elves have to protect it?"

Lyriana replied:

"Not primarily from other peoples."

"Then from what?"

This time, Elaria remained silent for a few seconds.

"From whatever naturally seeks to destroy it."

Adam frowned.

"Naturally?"

"Some organisms have appeared or evolved specifically to exploit the World Tree."

She continued:

"Parasites. Creatures capable of absorbing its energy. Organisms that attack its roots. Others try to block the circuits that distribute mana."

Adam grimaced.

"So even a tree this size can have parasites."

Lyriana smiled.

"Anything that lives can be attacked."

Elaria added:

"Some threats are tiny."

Then her expression became much more serious.

"Others are anything but."

Adam realized there was probably a whole story behind that statement.

But he decided not to interrupt their journey with twenty more questions.

"I see."