Chapter 135: The Seed of The Heart Tree

Maeve didn’t need Pinky to tell her twice. [Then I’ll use everything I have.]

The moment that thought crossed her mind, the warmth inside her body spread even further.

Maeve closed her eyes and focused on the battlefield.

Before, controlling several plants at the same time had felt like trying to move too many fingers that didn’t belong to her. She had to think carefully about every vine she wanted to move, every root she wanted to raise, and every branch she wanted to bend.

But now, everything felt different. The plants no longer felt separate from her and they truly felt like extensions of her own body.

[Whoa...] For a moment, Maeve almost forgot that they were in the middle of a battle.

[Host, focus!]

[I am focusing!]

[You’re admiring yourself!]

[Can’t I do both?!]

Pinky became silent and Maeve took that as a yes.

She quickly turned her attention back toward the battlefield. [Then let’s finish this.]

Maeve spread her awareness through every plant around the battlefield at once.

The Obryx were still trying to use the shadows to move around, but this time, Maeve could sense them before they even appeared.

The moment one of them emerged from a shadow, thick vines immediately wrapped around his legs.

Another tried to jump away, only for a branch to slam into his back and throw him onto the ground.

BAM!

"ARGH!"

"Don’t let them escape!" one of the Sylvara warriors shouted.

With Ikarus strengthening their abilities, the Sylvara people no longer struggled to keep up with the Obryx.

Roots burst from the ground. Vines wrapped around weapons and pulled them away. Branches blocked the shadows the Obryx tried to reach.

Maeve didn’t even have to control everything herself anymore. The Sylvara warriors quickly understood what she was doing and began working together with her.

Within minutes, the Obryx completely lost their advantage. "Retreat!"

One of them finally shouted when he realized that they could no longer reach the Mother Tree. "Everyone retreat!"

The remaining Obryx immediately tried to escape. Unfortunately, Ikarus had no intention of letting them leave after hearing what they planned to do to Maeve. "Don’t let any of them get away!"

The Sylvara warriors immediately blocked every path. An Obryx tried to disappear into a shadow, but Maeve quickly moved the branches above him, allowing sunlight to fall directly onto the ground.

The shadow disappeared before he could enter it. "What?!"

A vine wrapped around his waist and threw him back toward the battlefield.

At the same time, Ikarus rushed forward. His weapon cut through the air.

SLASH!

The Obryx fell. One after another, the remaining enemies were either killed or restrained by the Sylvara warriors.

The entire battle ended much faster than anyone had expected. The forest that had been filled with explosions, shouting, and clashing weapons slowly became quiet again.

Maeve finally opened her eyes. The moment she did, the plants around the battlefield stopped moving.

She immediately felt the huge amount of energy she had been using disappeared, leaving her body suddenly weak.

"Whoa..." Maeve stumbled backward.

Axan, who was standing beside her quickly caught her arm. "Are you alright?"

"I’m fine." Maeve steadied herself. "Just a little tired."

Maeve looked at her husband’s face. "Did you do something to the ones underground?"

Although Maeve couldn’t see what had happened beneath the ground, she could feel it through the roots of the plants. Axan had trapped the Obryx underground, slowly tightening the space around them until they could no longer breathe.

"Yes," Axan replied calmly. "I did what I had to do."

After a long pause, Axan spoke again. "But I don’t think this battle will stop the Obryx from doing the same thing again."

Just like the Pyrax, they would surely return someday once they had raised another generation.

The only difference was their reason for doing it.

The Pyrax wanted to keep themselves alive for as long as possible.

The Obryx, on the other hand, wanted to end the lives of others and eventually, their own as well.

"But that won’t be easy, don’t you think?" Maeve asked. "The Obryx keep moving from one place to another. Maybe they could survive that way if every place were fertile, but with the land being like this, I don’t think they can survive without becoming parasites in someone else’s territory."

At least in this region, the most fertile places were Lumivale Forest and Gordin Forest. As long as they could stop the Obryx from settling in their home and taking what belonged to them, they could also prevent their population from growing too large.

"We probably need to keep a closer watch over Lumivale Forest," Axan said with a sigh. "But that won’t be easy. Our forest is huge."

"I know. That’s why... we probably need to do something about it," Maeve mumbled thoughtfully.

Lumivale Forest was home to countless wild animals and beasts. They couldn’t simply force the forest to grow only around the area where their tribe lived.

Doing something like that would only damage the balance of the forest, and sooner or later, they would suffer because of it too.

Maeve fell silent for a moment as another idea slowly came to her. "I should ask the Sky Mother about this!"

But in truth, she was only asking Pinky inside her mind. ’Hey, Pinky... I was wondering. Is there anything in the Black Market that I can buy to control some of the wild animals? Or even better... beasts?’

Pinky became quiet for a few seconds. [There is, Host.]

Maeve’s eyes immediately lit up. ’Really?’

[Yes, but I need to remind you that controlling wild beasts is much harder than controlling normal animals. Most beasts have strong instincts and Aether Energy, so ordinary items won’t work on them.]

’Then show me something that will work.’

[Searching the Black Market...]

A familiar panel appeared in front of Maeve.

[Beast Command Whistle: 45,000 Coins — Effect: Allows the user to form temporary commands with wild animals and beasts within a limited range.]

[Warning: The stronger the beast, the harder it is to command. Beasts with powerful Aether Energy may resist the effect.]

’Temporary?’

Maeve immediately frowned. That would only be useful for a short time, while what Maeve wanted was something that could turn the wild beasts into her living spies.

She wanted them to continue living normally throughout Lumivale Forest while keeping an eye on anything unusual around them. If strangers entered the forest, she wanted the beasts to notice them and somehow warn her.

[Well, Host, instead of trying to control the beasts, why don’t you make use of your current ability as well?] Pinky asked.

’Do you mean... trying to see through the plants?’ Maeve asked.

She had actually thought about that before. However, the only reason she could see and sense so much right now was because the Mother Tree was helping her.

Once she returned to the Azuryn Tribe, wouldn’t she have to do everything on her own?

[Didn’t the Sylvara Tribe give you a Heart Tree seed?] Pinky reminded her. [It might not be the Sky Mother, but once it grows, it will eventually affect the entire ecosystem around the Azuryn Tribe too.]

[And since you want to use it to watch over the forest, it would be better to plant it in the Azuryn Settlement instead of in the Heart of Lumivale Forest.]

Maeve immediately understood what Pinky meant. In other words, she should simply move the future Heart of Lumivale Forest into their settlement.

[When the babies are born, you should also ask everyone to bury the placentas around the tree,] Pinky added. [That should help it grow much faster.]

Maeve thought about it for a moment.

’If I do that, then I’ll have to expand the settlement too.’

It would take a lot of time and work. Maeve would also have to buy more wood because she didn’t want them cutting down the trees that had only recently started growing throughout Lumivale Forest.

Still, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that it was the right choice.

"I think it will be worth it," Maeve suddenly said, causing Axan to furrow his brows.

"What will be worth it?" he asked in confusion.

Maeve lifted her head and smiled at him. "I was just talking to the Sky Mother in my mind, and she gave me some advice."

Axan’s expression immediately became serious. Whenever Maeve mentioned the Sky Mother, he always listened carefully.

"What did the Sky Mother tell you?"

"She told me that we don’t need to watch every part of Lumivale Forest ourselves." Maeve glanced toward the Mother Tree behind her. "I can use the plants instead."

Axan was silent for a moment before understanding what she meant. "Like what you did during the battle?"

"Yes." Maeve nodded. "But I can only do it this easily because the Mother Tree is helping me. Once we return home, I won’t have that."

She paused before continuing, "But the Sylvara gave me a Heart Tree seed and we burry it inside our settlement."