Novel Full Chapter 1386: The Tree Of Death
Chapter 1386: The Tree Of Death
I looked around the place that we stepped out from.
I thought we would appear within the city itself but it looks like we had been dropped a distance away from it instead.
To our right, I could see a giant tree stretching up towards the sky that would not have lost to the tree in Emmeflero Capital city in terms of size.
The only difference is that this tree was clearly dead with its barren branches and dead wood.
If I remember correctly, that is the Tree of Death, which should be north west of Nomed Metropolis but that would mean we were still at least a few days of travel away from it.
“Are there no Waystones closer to the city than here?” I asked.
Lisa was the one who answered, “Actually… There should be another one closer to the city… Why did we appear here? Did Goddess Immana make a mistake?”
Tsara looked around, “I do not believe Goddess Imana will make a mistake like that… She has surely brought us here for a reason.”
I looked up at the giant dead tree that was in the distance.
“I suppose… It can only be for that right? Maybe she wants me to go and visit that?”
I mean… I’m pretty sure the gods know about my goal of travelling around the World to visit all the places I could so maybe Immana thought it would be a waste for me to miss out on seeing that tree?
Lisa giggled, “Ehehehe~ That could be possible too~ Well, since we’re here, we might as well go take a look right?”
No one protested against the idea so we began our journey towards the tree in question.
Incidentally, looking around the place that we were walking through… It really had a rather unique atmosphere to it.
The ground beneath our feet was a metallic brown in colour and it felt a little dead to me.
The trees that were left around us were also dead too though I could see some orange coloured trees in the far distance. But everywhere around the Tree of Death was quite literally filled with the stench of death.
The good thing was that without the plants, there weren’t any places for any monsters to hide so we could see any threats coming towards us from a mile away so we didn’t really need to be on constant guard like we had when moving through the Trasif forest.
I decided to ask about the tree itself while we were walking.
“So what’s the history behind the Tree of Death? It couldn’t have just popped into existence, right?”
“It’s a pretty long story,” Lisa mused, moving herself beside me so that she could wrap her arm in mine. “But I suppose we have time to talk about it now~”
She tapped on her chin, “Hmm… Where should I even start? I guess before this, you should know that the tree was called the Tree of Life instead.”
Huh… I had always wondered why the tree in the Trasif forest was called the Tree of Creation instead of the Tree of Life since I expected it to be the opposite version of this one. Guess now I know.
Lisa then gestured around us, “This place also used to be a lush forest filled with life before but… As you can see, it’s no longer the case.”
“What happened?”
“Hmm… Well… You know how it’s called the Tree of Life, right? It’s mostly because of its healing properties where it would bear fruits periodically that could bring people back to life.”
I raised an eyebrow, “And Srii allowed that?”
“I suppose? The tree was made by the Gods after all so she should know about it and what it could do, right?”
“That’s assuming that she wasn’t the one who caused this to happen to the tree in the first place.”
Lisa hummed, “Well… That could also be what happened too, now that I think about it.”
“So what happened?” I asked, reminding her of the question.
“Mmm… Like I said, the tree grows fruits that could bring people back to life but it only flowers once every other year. So some mages thought they could use their magic to influence the tree to make it flower more.”
I eyed the tree, “I’m assuming that didn’t work out?”
She nodded, “They tried to give more power to the tree but that seemed to have the opposite effect, as you could see… From what was recorded, it was said that the tree started to rapidly wither away before there was an explosion of energy which basically caused everything within a set distance from the tree to die. Plants withered away, creatures dropped dead onto the ground and even buildings decayed into ruins. Everyone that had been within that space was dead. It was one of the biggest disasters in the history of this World. The tree was then renamed the Tree of Death.”
Tsara raised a finger, “Might I add, that event also led to the Trasifs being fiercely protective of their tree and no one was allowed to go near it for the next few decades.”
I hummed, “Hmm… In that case… Is it safe for people to approach the tree now?”
Lisa giggled, “Well… If it’s us, it should be fine~”
“What do you mean by that? Wait… Don’t tell me… I know this pattern… The things that died to the tree didn’t remain dead but became undead instead?”
Lisa giggled, “Ehehehe~ Something like that~ Though it’s more complicated than that actually. They aren’t actually undead.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm… Well… Don’t you think it’s weird that a tree as big as that still stands upright and is even growing bigger despite the fact that it’s supposed to be dead?”
I widened my eyes in surprise, “It’s still growing?”
“Yep, that’s right~”
“How?”
“Because the tree itself isn’t actually dead. It is still alive.”
I looked up at the giant dead tree for a moment before turning back to her, “What?”
Lisa nodded, “It may look like that, but the tree is very much alive. In my personal opinion, instead of saying that the tree died back then, it would be more accurate to say that the tree’s concept changed.”
“So… What? It should be called the Tree of Undeath or something?”
“Well… Technically, it can still be called the Tree of Life, just not the type of life that it was originally made to be by the Gods. It’s a little hard to explain but it will be evident when we get–”
Her words were cut short as a growl came from beside us.
I immediately whipped around, wondering how a monster managed to sneak so close to us when there was nowhere to hide.
Then I saw it, something that looked like a Mahun shambling towards us from between the trees.
The only thing was that its body was covered with tree bark and if it had stayed still, it would have basically looked like a dead tree just standing out in the field.
Only when it started to move did that illusion break for me.
“What the heck is that?” I couldn’t help but cry out while using [Screened] at the same time.
[Name: Abhorrent Pawn
Race: Monster
Stats:
50 Strength
10 Dexterity
70 Endurance
40 Magic]
Lisa shrugged, “Guess fate is pretty funny huh? There you go.”
“What is that?” I asked again.
“It’s what we know as an Abhorrent. It’s basically a mutated life form, to be exact. A corpse that has been parasitised to let a new life grow in it.”
“And I’m assuming this is because of the tree? The Tree of Death planting some kind of seed in the corpse to cause it to mutate into this?”
“Mmm… Pretty much. They seek out other life and kill them to bring them back to the tree to be turned as well.”
“Not to be rude but… These don’t look so strong… Are there stronger variants or something?”
“Oh of course~ The danger of these monsters is that they blend in with the trees around here and that while one or two of them aren’t a threat, it becomes a problem when they come in a horde.”
I materialised my Light Sword, “I don’t understand… Why can’t we do this then?”
I activated the sword’s enchantment and slashed my sword in an arc, slicing through the trees and the Abhorrent in a single slash.
The corpse of the creature fell to the ground at the same time as the Abhorrent, leaving a large space that was visible in front of us.
But even as I watched, the stumps of the trees I had just cut down immediately started to grow into a new tree, completely replacing the part of the tree that I had just cut down.
Lisa chuckled, “Ehehehe~ Yeah, because of that~ We have tried cutting them down and even burning them but nothing worked so we leave it as it is. The forest is, however, a really good source for wood though. The wood is still surprisingly quite high quality here~”
Hmm… Well, I guess we’re still going to see the tree?