Chương 434: (427) 6.41. Saved the Trees!

"The sheer quantity of epic monster flesh from the gigantic ring monster that beset Terra during the battle for wave five was the tipping point," Erik explained as Vin sat back in shock.

"Admittedly, we were not able to get all of it buried and transformed into magical fertilizer before it began decaying naturally into ambient mana, but we were able to utilize enough of it."

"So hold on, does that mean the other dryads can be woken up now?" Vin asked, glancing around the tiny tree room.

"I can't help but notice how this place still feels a little bit empty."

"Even the epic monster wasn't nearly enough for that," Shia snorted, a wide smile on her face despite her words.

"The amount of mana the Ancient Ones need in order to sustain themselves is pretty ridiculous, and they need to recover all the mana they lost before they can awaken once more. So it's going to be some time before we have more dryads roaming the forest alongside Erik."

"Instead, with the aid of all the magically dense fertilizer Terra has provided us, we have reached the point where the cost of mana needed to sustain my people in their hibernative state will soon manage to be fulfilled by the elven Druids as they increase in level," Erik explained.

"It is why we requested the assistance of your town's Logistician. It was Shia's idea to have him 'crunch the numbers', as she said. A curious Earther expression, I will say."

"So you're not technically out of the woods just yet? If you pardon the word choice," Vin asked, smiling sheepishly at his bad pun.

"Not yet, but Golrim's numbers were based on a pretty conservative rate of growth and leveling for the Druids of the Sacred Forest, and he factored in a rather low quantity of additional monster flesh as well. Meaning so long as our team and Terra keep on helping, and Erik doesn't burn through mana in any powerful display of magics, it's pretty much all but guaranteed that the Ancient Ones will awaken one day," Shia explained.

"Alright, well that is good news then!" Vin exclaimed, running a hand through his hair as he thought about just how long they'd been working on trying to fix the dryads' problem.

"Man, it's been what, almost five months since Erik dropped the bomb on me that his people were dying? Glad to finally confirm that he's not going to be following after them!" The hunt for a grand artifact with enough mana to fix Erik's problem and tide his people over had been Vin's longest outstanding quest, and one he'd kept in the back of his mind pretty much since his first week on Edregon. The fact that it was pretty much finished was somehow both a huge relief, and yet a little bit saddening as well.

"I do apologize for the unnecessary drama, but we truly were in a bad place," Erik said, giving him a warm smile.

"But yes, it would seem I can rest a tad easier now. With the Red Dawn no longer attempting to chop at the trees along our border, friendly relations established with your people, and now the issue of my people burning through their life mana while I hunted for a solution mostly resolved, it would seem our greatest threats from having come to Edregon are finally at an end."

"And don't you go thinking this means I'm moving back into the Sacred Forest fulltime," Shia said, giving him a pointed grin.

"Remember, helping the Ancient Ones out was just part of why I originally left the forest. My main goal was and still is finding a way to help my master out, wherever he currently is. Not to mention keeping you lot in line and ensuring you don't all get yourselves killed."

"It warms my core to see the friendships you've built for yourself these past couple of months," Erik said, turning his grandfatherly smile onto Shia instead.

"I know you have an impressive bond with your master, but I always thought a little time away from him would be good for you in the long run. You never did get along all that well with the other elves your age growing up. In fact, I recall one incident—""Erik, not in front of Vin!" Shia stammered, her face going red as she stood up and grabbed Vin by the arm, all but dragging him over to the door.

"Well, the two of us should really get going! Fragments to explore and magic to learn and all that! We'll talk to you later!" Before Erik could do so much as respond, Shia pulled them out of the Tree of Ancients and slammed the door shut, letting out a sigh of relief as she leaned against the magical wood. Noting Vin's grin, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"If I hear you swung back and paid Erik a visit later just to hear embarrassing stories about me when I was little, I'm going to steal your shimmerwing mattress. Technically, seeing as I was given possession of my master's house and everything within it, it's actually my mattress you stole."

"Have I ever told you how you're my favorite of the whole group?" Vin asked nervously, swallowing hard as he tried to make the impossible decision between keeping his magical mattress and one of his oldest friends. It was concerning that there wasn't a clear-cut choice, and it was his turn to let out a sigh of relief when Shia laughed and shook her head. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. If it wasn't for your help, who knows if I ever would have found Blossom. Or even discovered the dungeons and got the chance to see my master again. As far as I'm concerned, the shimmerwing mattress is yours to keep."

"No take backs!" Vin said quickly, laughing alongside her for a moment.

"Still, this is pretty exciting hearing that the issue with the Ancient Ones is pretty much resolved. I'm happy Erik won't be the last of his people!"

"To be honest, I'd hold your excitement just a little while longer," Shia admitted, her smile faltering slightly as she glanced at the tree. Motioning for him to move closer, she cast Still Wind, ensuring their conversation would remain private.

"There is still a lot that could go wrong. Don't forget, Golrim's calculations are based on the Druids' rate of growth in the Sacred Forest. That means if some new threat appears and we end up losing any of our Druids…"

"That throws off all the numbers," Vin realized, his heart sinking at the news. Edregon was a lot of things, but 'safe' definitely wasn't a word he would use to describe it. Anything from some sort of magical plague to another group like the Red Dawn popping up was possible, and that meant there was no guarantee all the Druids would survive in order to supply the dryads with their much-needed nature magic.

"Surely Erik understands that, right?"

"Golrim was pretty clear when he explained all this the other day, but I think Erik longs for the return of his people so much that he's turning a blind eye to these caveats," Shia explained.

"I can't really blame him. He's spent thousands of years living alongside all the other dryads. To go from that, to suddenly being the last of his people… It's no wonder he wants to convince himself that they'll be coming back no matter what."

"Then I guess all we can do is keep doing our part to help ensure that's what happens," Vin decided. Erik had been nothing but kind and helpful to them throughout their adventures around Edregon, he'd happily do whatever it took to ensure the safe return of the dryad's people.

"Speaking of, if you don't have anything else planned for today, I was actually planning to ask for your help in making something that should help with that," Shia said, motioning for him to follow her as she began walking toward her master's old house.

"When you were tossed in prison by the ranker king, you lost that staff I whittled for you, right?"

"Yeah, I still need to get a replacement one of these days," Vin admitted, smiling and waving at a handful of curious faces as they walked through the elven village. The last time he'd been through here the elves had given him a wide berth because Kelly had pestered them to the point they were afraid of talking to any humans, but it seemed as though she'd either mellowed out a bit, or the elves had grown used to her.

"I probably should have seen about grabbing something from Terra, but it was low enough on my to-do list I sort of just kept forgetting."

"Well, seeing as I made you your original staff, I thought it only fitting that I make you your replacement," Shia grinned, greeting a few elves as they walked and promising to catch up later with one or two as she kept walking.

"Though this one is going to be a little bit special." It wasn't long before they reached what was now Shia's house. Just like it had the first time, Vin took a moment to admire how the house differed from the rest of the village within the Sacred Village. Whereas most elves lived in what were basically sprawling apartment complexes with carefully grown walls and floors, the buildings of which looked like large trees themselves, Shia's master had grown his personal house to be a true work of art.

It was made up of a mixture of different tree species forming the walls, floor, and roof of the building, and the furniture within copied the same style Erik used in the Tree of Ancients, growing itself directly out of the floor and walls. Though rather than bring them into the building itself, Shia led him around back, where he was surprised to discover a small garden plot. Motioning for him to take a seat, Shia did as well, removing her pouch of magic seeds from her belt that she kept on her at all times.

"At this point, I think it's pretty safe to say that whittling you another staff out of regular-old wood probably wouldn't be worth the effort," Shia snorted, hunting through her pouch.

"Knowing you, it would probably get melted in acid, or incinerated when you went up against some crazy monster. With that in mind, I propose we go a little bit further this time with your replacement." Pulling out a small seed, Shia grinned, holding it out between them and flicking out her tongue as she tasted the magic. Vin couldn't help but lean forward, his own eyes drawn to the seed as he felt the magic radiating out of it.

Almost without thinking, he found himself staring into the seed with Beyond the Veil, and he blinked as he spotted a complex mess of runic formations jam-packed into the seed. There were so many he didn't actually know what most of the runes did, but he could easily tell that the seed was packed full of far more mana than the other magical plant he and Shia had worked together to create a while back for the dwarves of the Crater. Minor arcane discovery! 1, 000 exp gained.

"This is a little something I've been working on for a few weeks now," Shia admitted, turning the seed this way and that as she admired her own handiwork.

"As a Druid of Bonds, I wanted to try making something that embodied my new class. While Erik really didn't need to bring up the old me, he wasn't wrong about one thing. Before you guys, I really only had a bond with my master. It may have been incredibly powerful and deep, but it is still just the one. If I want to keep leveling and embody my class to the best of my abilities, I need to start focusing not just on the Druid aspect of my class, but the other bonds I've formed as well."

"That's a good idea," Vin nodded.

"And I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say just let us know whatever you need from us to help you with that."

"Oh don't worry, I plan to," Shia grinned.

"Starting with you. I can't really finish this artifact for you without your help."