The One Branch of The Tree
Chapter 13
It was dark, there was no sound, no light, no feeling, just emptiness. I floated in the darkness without form, without direction, without a body, but I could feel a strange and calming feeling.
Am I dying again? If so, I'm starting to feel like my life's death system is getting too repetitive. I try to move, but I can't. I try to speak, but there's no sound. Then something appears, a small, faint green light floating in the distance.
One dot like a firefly, I stared at it and the dot started to slowly get closer and closer, getting bigger until finally I realized it wasn't a light but a leaf.
A dark green leaf floated in front of me and then a voice came not through my ears but directly in my head or maybe within my being.
“Fragment.”
I froze. Okay, voices in the void are never convincing.
“Who?” I asked.
Or think it's hard to distinguish here, the voice is back.
“What's left.” Samar.
Of course.
“Can you be more specific?”
Silence then the light around me changed, the darkness began to crack I saw something that was a fragment of a giant tree that was very big, so big that its branches felt like they were supporting the sky, its roots penetrated the land, its leaves were like stars.
Beautiful, ancient, terrifying, I knew without explanation that it was the real World Tree. Then the image changed to a red sky, a fire, and a large black shadow. Something attacked the tree; I couldn't make out its shape clearly, only a silhouette and fear. A very primal fear.
Trees cracked, branches snapped, roots uprooted, the whole world seemed to be screaming. Fragments flew and scattered, one of them heading towards the darkness, towards me.
The vision stopped, I was back in the void my heart was beating faster or I was just imagining having a heart.
“So my class…” I muttered.
The voice answered.
"Fragment."
“From the World Tree?”
“Yes.”
Well confirmed cool and a bit worrying, I stared at the leaf.
"And now?"
There was silence for a few seconds. Then:
"Grow."
Simple but straight to the point very structured in tree code, I sighed.
“Everyone in this world likes to talk like a riddle, right?”
There was no answer the leaf slowly approached touching my forehead and suddenly PAIN, I screamed.
“AAAAARGH!”
Consciousness hit me like a truck again, all the pain that had disappeared came rushing back to my bones, muscles, nerves, and mana.
Everything burned as I opened my eyes, my body suddenly arched in pain, and I was back in the Core Room. Stone floors, roots, green light, and the most illicit pain.
“Cancer!”
Nara's voice was faint, I could barely focus my body was covered in greenish black roots wrapping around my arms, chest, neck as if my body was being rewritten.
The thorny branch in my hand cracked, broke, lengthened, the wood hardened, thorns grew and then its shape changed completely.
Notifications appear in succession.
Evolution successful.
Class upgraded.
Weapon evolved.
Thorny Branch → World Thorn Sword
Skill evolved.
Devour Root → World Root Devour
New skill acquired:
Root Domain
Corruption Resistance
Level increased. 13 → 16
I almost laughed.
"Hah, hah..."
The roots slowly pulled away from my body the pain subsided little by little I fell to my knees, Breathing heavily, body covered in cold sweat but I could feel the difference very clearly much stronger.
The mana in my body feels denser and more stable. Minor Mana Sense has grown drastically. I can even feel the entire room. Every root, every energy flow, every vibration. So many but amazing.
I stared at the new weapon in my hand and for a few seconds I was completely speechless. It was no longer a branch. It now resembled a thin sword with a dark ebony texture, long and elegant, with small spikes running down the sides of the blade, with green veins glowing faintly on the surface. It looked so cool, and I smiled broadly.
“Now we talk.”
Ultimately, the aesthetic upgrade was important. Nara stood a few meters away from me, her gaze sharp and wary. Fair enough, I might have just turned into something questionable.
“Are you still conscious?” he asked.
I looked at him thinking about the answer.
“About... eighty percent.”
Nara let out a small sigh I guess that was her version of relief from high praise, I opened the status.
Name: Lock
Class:
World Tree Trunk Fragment
Level: 16
Weapon:
World Thorn Sword
Skill:
World Root Devour
Ember Slash
Root Snare
Nature Assimilation
Root Domain
Corruption Resistance
Oh the class name also changed, it's very interesting, so I'm the one who evolved not only the weapon but the Class as well, dopamine progression was activated, I read the new skill.
Root Domain
Creates an area of root influence within a specific radius.
Users can detect, control, and strengthen roots within the domain.
This is very useful. Area control and detection of potential battlefield domination, I love it.
Second skill:
Corruption Resistance
Increases resistance to corruption, poison, decay, and mental influence.
Okay the system basically says:
“You'll need this.”
It wasn't calming, so I stood up slowly, my body feeling light, strong, and much stronger than before. Very addictive and dangerous, I stared at the fragment in the center of the room.
The crystal was now much dimmer, some of its energy absorbed but not yet destroyed. Very interesting, Nara approached and said
"Succeed?"
I nodded.
“I guess so.”
“Pages?”
I picked up a new weapon.
“If this fails, my standards are very high.”
Nara saw my sword for the first time, her expression actually changing slightly in surprise. Nice, open feat: impressing a girl with a straight face, rare, but before we could talk further, the whole room shook once, twice, dust began to fall from the ceiling, I frowned.
“Oh.”
“This is usually a bad sign.”
A notification appears.
Warning.
Instability detected.
Core collapse imminent.
Time remaining:
05:00
I looked at the timer then looked at Nara, she had already turned her body towards the door, practically as usual.
"Run." he said.
Good advice, we immediately ran out of the room. The timer ticked to 5:00, and for the first time since entering this place, I began to think that maybe grabbing power-ups while triggering dungeon collapses was too consistent a tradition.
[END CHAPTER 13]
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