Chapter 130: The Extreme Cult

About thirty minutes later, Anna finally approached Maeve. She was also carrying something inside a clay cup.

"Elder Elthira just crushed some berries for us to drink, and I thought you might like some too," Anna said as she handed the clay cup to Maeve.

Maeve accepted it with both hands and looked down curiously. The drink inside was deep purple, and there were still tiny pieces of fruit floating on the surface.

"Thank you," she said politely.

She brought the cup to her lips and took a small sip and her eyes immediately widened. "It’s sweet!"

She had already eaten some of the berries that were served earlier, but somehow, crushing them and drinking the juice made them taste even sweeter.

Maeve then held the cup out toward Ikarus and Axan. "You should try it too."

Ikarus was the first to take the cup. He took a small sip, and his eyes immediately widened. From the look on his face, it seemed like he wanted to drink all the berry juice left in the cup. "Yes, it really is sweet!"

Axan glanced at Ikarus before reaching out for the cup. "Leave some for me."

Ikarus chuckled and handed it over. "I was only taking one sip."

Axan gave him a doubtful look but didn’t say anything. He brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip.

Unlike Ikarus, his reaction was much calmer. His expression barely changed, but Maeve noticed his eyebrows lift slightly as he looked down at the drink.

"It’s good," he said.

Maeve tilted her head. "Just good?"

Axan looked at her, then took another sip before answering, "Very good."

Anna smiled widely when she saw that all of them enjoyed the berry juice. She then waved her hand excitedly. "Come, come. I’ll show you around the mountain."

Maeve happily followed her, with Ikarus and Axan walking close behind.

Anna first led them around the Sylvara Settlement before taking them along one of the paths that went around Mount Troja. The path was surrounded by thick plants and tall trees, and after the Mother Tree recovered, everything seemed even more alive than before.

As they walked, Anna eagerly pointed out different places to them. She showed Maeve where the Sylvara people gathered fruits and herbs, where they usually collected water, and several smaller paths that led farther up the mountain.

Maeve listened carefully, but her attention was soon caught by the plants growing beside the path.

She had been wanting to try her new ability ever since she woke up.

Maeve stopped beside a small plant and crouched down. "Let me try something."

Ikarus and Axan stopped as well. Moments later, she gently placed her fingers on one of its leaves and closed her eyes.

Almost immediately, a tiny voice appeared inside her mind. [Water...]

[So thirsty...]

Maeve pulled her hand away from the small plant and smiled at it. "Wait here, little one. I’ll get some water for you."

She then turned to Anna. "I think this plant needs water. Can you help me get some?"

Anna smiled eagerly. "Of course!"

While Anna went to fetch the water, Maeve decided to test her ability again. She focused on the plants growing around her and tried to make them grow faster.

Before coming here, doing something like this would have caused her pain. The more she forced the plants to grow, the worse it would become.

But right now, there was no pain at all. Instead, Maeve felt a gentle warmth spreading from her heart and flowing through her entire body.

She watched in amazement as the plants slowly grew beneath her touch. "I still can’t believe I can really make plants grow this fast," she murmured, her eyes fixed on the fresh leaves appearing in front of her.

Ikarus and Axan crouched down beside her, but with how tall they were, the position quickly became uncomfortable. In the end, they simply sat down on the ground next to her.

"The Sky Mother truly loves you," Axan said as he watched the plants grow. "If she hadn’t convinced us to come here, you might still be suffering right now."

Maeve’s expression softened at his words because she still remembered how painful it had been when her ability first appeared.

"Yeah," she murmured. "I’m glad we came here."

Ikarus reached over and gently rubbed the top of her head. "So am I."

Maeve smiled at him before looking back at the plants around her.

Just then, Anna returned with a clay cup filled with water. "I got it!"

Maeve quickly took the cup from her. "Thank you."

She carefully poured the water onto the soil around the small plant and almost as soon as the water reached its roots, a cheerful voice appeared inside her mind.

[Water!]

[So good!]

[Thank you! Thank you!]

Maeve immediately laughed at that cute voice.

"What did it say?" Ikarus asked.

"It said the water is good." Maeve gently touched one of its leaves again. "And it thanked me."

Axan looked at the little plant for a moment. "So they really speak to you."

"Only when I touch them." Maeve nodded. "Otherwise, I can’t hear anything."

She was actually grateful for that. If she could hear every plant around her all the time, she would probably go crazy within a day.

Maeve stood up and dusted the dirt from her clothes. "Let’s keep going."

Anna eagerly nodded and continued leading them along the path around Mount Troja.

However, they had barely walked for a few minutes when Maeve suddenly stopped again because she saw a long vine covered in tiny green leaves was growing along a large rock beside the path.

Curious, Maeve reached out and touched it and the moment her fingers brushed against its leaves, a voice entered her mind.

[Heart.]

Maeve smiled at first, already getting used to the Sylvara people calling her that, but the next words made her smile disappear.

[Something is moving below.]

Maeve frowned, tilting her head to the side. "What?"

[Deep below.] The plant repeated its words.

"What is it?" Ikarus immediately asked when he noticed the change in her expression.

Maeve didn’t answer because she was too focused on the voice in her head. "What’s moving below?" she whispered.

The vine trembled beneath her fingers. [Don’t know.]

[Other plants say something is moving.]

Maeve slowly lifted her gaze toward the enormous Mother Tree in the distance.

Axan followed her gaze. "What did it say again?"

Maeve hesitated before answering, "It said there’s something moving deep beneath Mount Troja."

Anna’s eyes widened, and within moments, her face turned so pale that it looked as if all the blood had been drained from her body.

"This is bad. This is bad. This is bad..." Anna muttered over and over again.

Seeing how frightened she was, Maeve couldn’t help feeling nervous too. "What is it, Anna?" she quickly asked.

Anna swallowed hard before looking down at the ground beneath their feet. "The Obryx," she whispered.

Maeve frowned. "The Obryx?"

Anna nodded quickly. "They can move through shadows, but some of them can also travel beneath the ground. If something is moving deep under Mount Troja, there’s a good chance it’s them."

"But why would they come here?" Maeve asked.

Maeve didn’t even know what the hell the Obryx were, but seeing how terrified Anna looked, she knew they had to be bad news.

Anna clearly wanted to answer her, but she was so panicked that she could barely get the words out.

In the end, Axan answered for her. "They’re a tribe whose goal is to wipe out the other tribes."

Hearing that, Maeve felt a chill run down her spine, and she finally understood why Anna looked so frightened.

"Why would they do something like that?" she asked.

Ikarus answered this time. "Ever since this world started dying, the Obryx have believed that people like us are the reason behind it. They think we’re nothing more than parasites destroying the planet."

Axan said, "The Obryx believe the planet can only recover once there are fewer people living on it. To them, killing other tribes isn’t murder, so they think they’re saving this world."

"You’re wrong," Anna suddenly said, swallowing hard. "They don’t just want to reduce the population. They want to wipe out everyone, every last generation... even themselves in the end."

Anna held her breath. "They must have sensed that the Mother Tree is thriving again, which is why they came here."

Most tribes fought each other because they wanted something that could help their own people survive, but the Obryx were the complete opposite.

They weren’t fighting to survive, but they wanted everyone to disappear.

A second later, she looked down at the ground again. If the Obryx really had come because the Mother Tree was healthy again, then their target was obvious.

"They’re going after the Mother Tree," Maeve said.

Anna quickly nodded. "They have to be. If they destroy the Mother Tree, Sylvara won’t survive for long."

The Mother Tree was connected to almost everything here. It helped the plants grow, kept the land healthy, and provided many of the things the Sylvara people needed to survive.

Destroying it would be the same as slowly killing the entire tribe.