Chapter 131: Gathering Informations

As soon as they learned that the Obryx had come to Troja Mountain to destroy the Mother Tree, they rushed back to the settlement to warn everyone.

"They got here too fast!" one of the Sylvara people shouted through gritted teeth. His eyes burned with anger, and from the look on his face, he seemed ready to break the neck of any Obryx who came near them.

Fear and anger quickly spread through the crowd. Some people began talking over one another, while others looked toward the edge of the settlement as if they expected the Obryx to appear at any moment.

Elthira stood in front of the Mother Tree and raised her voice, trying to calm everyone down. "We can’t panic now," she said firmly. "That’s exactly what they want. If we lose our heads, it’ll only make it easier for them to take us down."

Elthira looked around at the restless crowd before continuing, "The Obryx can move through shadows, and they can travel beneath the ground. There’s a good chance they’ll use that to get close to the Mother Tree without being seen."

Her words immediately made everyone tense. She turned toward the Sylvara people who had plant abilities. "All of you, use the roots of the plants around the settlement. Move them underground and form a barrier around the Mother Tree’s roots. Don’t leave any gaps. If the Obryx try to reach the Mother Tree from below, we need to stop them before they can get close."

The Sylvara people quickly nodded and spread out around the Mother Tree.

One by one, they placed their hands against the ground. The earth began to tremble softly as countless roots moved beneath the soil, twisting together and slowly forming a thick barrier around the Mother Tree’s massive roots.

Even so, Maeve still felt that it wasn’t enough.

The Obryx could move through shadows and travel beneath the ground. She didn’t know how strong they were or whether the wall of roots would be enough to stop them.

Her eyes moved toward Axan. "Axan," Maeve called.

Axan immediately walked over to her. "What is it?"

Maeve pointed toward the Mother Tree. "Can you use your barrier to cover the entire Mother Tree?"

Axan followed her gaze upward. The Mother Tree was enormous. Its branches stretched high into the sky, while its roots spread far beneath the settlement. Creating a barrier large enough to cover the whole tree would require a lot of energy.

But Axan didn’t hesitate to said, "I can."

He stepped forward and raised one hand toward the Mother Tree.

Maeve lifted her head as a transparent barrier began forming above the Mother Tree. It slowly spread outward, curving around its enormous branches before continuing down toward the ground.

But the barrier didn’t stop there. It sank beneath the soil, surrounding the massive roots as well.

Within seconds, the entire Mother Tree was completely sealed inside Axan’s barrier.

The Sylvara people stared in surprise. Even Elthira looked impressed as she studied the nearly invisible wall surrounding their sacred tree.

Axan lowered his hand, but his attention remained on the barrier.

Maeve walked closer and carefully reached toward it. Instead of stopping her, the barrier allowed her hand to pass through without any resistance.

She blinked. "I can go through it?"

"Yes." Axan nodded. "I made it recognize your energy."

"For now, you’re the only person who can pass through the barrier," Axan explained. "Anyone else who tries to enter will be blocked."

"Thank you." Maeve smiled at him.

Axan gave her a small smile in return. "You don’t need to thank me. Protecting what matters to you is also my job."

The moment the Mother Tree was protected, the Sylvara people picked up their weapons and prepared to face their enemies.

Amid the chaos, Elthira walked toward Maeve. "Maeve, I need your help with something only you can do."

Maeve immediately understood what she meant. "You want me to communicate with the plants?"

"Yes." Elthira nodded. "The Obryx don’t know that we have someone who can communicate with plants. We can use that to our advantage."

Even if the Obryx could hide inside the shadows or move beneath the ground, the plants could still feel what was happening around their roots.

"Ask the plants to watch for anything moving beneath the soil," Elthira continued. "If the Obryx pass near their roots, I want to know where they are and which direction they’re moving."

Maeve looked around at the trees, vines, grass, and flowers covering the settlement.

There were plants almost everywhere. The Obryx might be able to hide from their eyes, but hiding from an entire forest would be much harder.

"Alright." Maeve took a deep breath. "I’ll do it."

[Side Mission Triggered!]

[Mission: Eyes of the Forest]

[Goal: Use your connection with the plants to detect the Obryx’s movements and warn the Sylvara Tribe before the enemy reaches the Mother Tree.]

[Reward:

35,000 Coins

Skill Unlocked: Nature’s Network (Epic) — Effcect: Allows the Host to temporarily connect with multiple plants within a large area and share their senses.]

Maeve stared at the mission panel for a moment before closing it.

Thirty-five thousand coins was tempting, but the new skill caught her attention even more.

Nature’s Network?

If she could really connect with several plants at the same time, it would make her ability much more useful. Right now, communicating with one plant at a time was simply too slow, especially when the Obryx could appear at any moment.

But for now, she needed to think of a more efficient way to gather information instead of running around and asking each plant one by one.

Maeve’s gaze slowly shifted toward the Mother Tree and a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

Maeve quickly walked toward the Mother Tree and placed her palm against its massive trunk.

She closed her eyes and focused on the warm presence she had felt before.

"Mother Tree?" she spoke out loud since everyone already knew that she was able to communicate with plants.

The leaves above her rustled gently even though there was no wind and Maeve felt the familiar warmth spreading from the trunk into her palm.

[Maeve.]

The soft voice came directly from the Mother Tree, but just like before, only Maeve could understand it.

Maeve smiled slightly. "I want to ask you something."

[Ask.]

"You’re the center of life on Mount Troja, right?" Maeve asked. "The plants here are able to grow because your energy spreads throughout the mountain."

[Yes.]

"Then... are you connected to all of them?"

The branches above her moved slightly. [They are all connected to me.]

Maeve’s eyes immediately brightened because that was exactly what she had hoped to hear. "So if I stay connected to you, can I communicate with all the plants on Mount Troja through you?"

[Yes.] Mother Tree responded without hesitation.

Maeve held her breath and asked once again, "Even the ones far away from here? There’s no distance limit as long as the plant is still somewhere on Mount Troja?"

[That is correct.]

A wide smile appeared on Maeve’s face.

Behind her, Ikarus and Axan exchanged glances. They could only hear Maeve’s side of the conversation, but judging by her expression, she had clearly discovered something useful.

Maeve placed her other hand against the trunk. "Then can you help me? I need every plant on Mount Troja to watch for the Obryx and immediately report anything they notice to you. Then, you can tell me."

The Mother Tree’s leaves rustled gently above her. [I can.]

Maeve let out a small breath of relief. "Thank you."

Almost immediately, she felt a warm energy spreading beneath her palm. It traveled down the Mother Tree’s enormous trunk and into its roots before spreading farther and farther beneath the mountain.

Maeve couldn’t see what was happening, but she could feel the Mother Tree was reaching out to its children.

She was reaching for the trees deep in the forest, vines growing along the cliffs, grass covering the open fields, tiny flowers growing between rocks, and even the plants growing in places no Sylvara had visited for years.

All of them received the same message: Watch. Listen. And report anything unusual.

At first, there was nothing. But after a while, the Mother Tree suddenly spoke. [I found them.]

Maeve immediately opened her eyes. "The Obryx?"

[Yes.]

Everyone around her became alert the moment they heard her question.

"Where are they?" Maeve quickly asked.

[Below the ground, on the eastern side of the mountain.]

Maeve frowned. "How many?"

[Forty-three.]

Maeve blinked several times. The other plants had struggled to tell exactly how many Obryx were moving beneath the ground, but the Mother Tree had given her an exact number in only a second.

It seemed the Mother Tree could understand the information gathered by all the plants and put everything together much better than Maeve had expected.

"Can you tell what weapons they’re carrying?" Maeve asked.

The Mother Tree went quiet for a moment before answering again. [Most carry blades. Some have bows and arrows. Others carry long weapons with sharp ends.]